Turning off the cell phone

More and more, I have been viewing my cellphone with distaste. The damn thing is little more than a leash. People can get hold of me anywhere, and frequently do. I admit, I thought that it was cool when I first got it. I even remember being so goofy as calling my mother to announce that I was sitting on the great wall of China.

But now, watching what they have become, I am more and more repulsed by the invention. All races, creeds, and colors are affected by it. Use is endemic and rude. Moronic husbands wander down the aisle at the grocery store asking their wives what they should buy. Women appear to have the things grafted into their ear when they are in cars.

I think that it adds to the accelerating atomization of American life. When you can stay in constant contact with you little clique, there is no need to interact with anyone. You can have a life that is:

1. your house
2. your car
3. your work

The rest of society can just go hang.

But (and this is my tin foil hat side speaking), I really don't like they way that the phone company necessarily knows where I am at any point in the day if I carry it around with me while it is turned on. I think that they have the ability to locate you within 500 meters with a standard cell phone, they know exactly where you are with a GPS equipped phone.

So I recorded a new message yesterday, told the folks calling me that it is off and to call me at home if they need me. I'll carry the cell phone turned off and turn it on if I need to speak with someone or there is an emergency.

I'll let you know how it works out.