no cellphone- Page 2

[CJR]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:01pm

Updated On: 2/22/05 at 12:01 PM

[CJR]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:02pm

I was against the whole cell phone thing for the longest time..... now I dont know what I'd do without it. It's actually the only phone I bother to answer anymore and 99% of my friends dont even have my home phone number (mostly because Im never there).

What pushed me to get one was almost 5 years ago when my little brother's school was evacuated due to an emergency. They weren't able to get a hold of anyone at my house because nobody was home and nobody had a cell phone. The only reason I found out was because I was babysitting and the 2 older kids went to the same school as my brother -- I wound up going to pick them, my brother and my 2 cousins up all in one fell swoop. That afternoon I went out and got a cell phone... a few weeks later my father followed suit.

It's a godsend now for work, especially with the line of work I'm in. Unfortunately, it's imperative to always be able to get a hold of me.

As for the not wanting to be bothered when you're out aspect... I look at it this way: my phone has an off button and caller ID for a reason

[Jacques_Clouseau]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:06pm

I have no home phone. It's all cellular baby. It's cheaper long distance, ability to turn off, good caller ID, phone book, etc. I have no need for a land line. (As the towers all crumble)

[Allie]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:07pm

I'm 18, and I don't have a cellphone. I do plan to get one this summer, once I get a job! Also, I think it'll make my mom feel a lot better once I get my license. It'll probably only be for emergencies, but I think I'll feel safer, too.

[etheb]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:11pm

I also don't have a cell...don't really see the use. but the fact that i'm a young woman and i live in new york and i often go out by myself means that i should probably get one for emergencies. i want to get a prepaid, but you have to keep refilling those or the minutes expire. plus, the phones are freaking HUGE and i don't like carrying a purse. i'm still in a bit of a dillemma about what to do!

[CJR]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:29pm

Not true, etheb. I have a prepaid cell phone... it's a tiny LG flip phone (I used to have a samsung flip, but I broke the antenna) through the ATT Go Phone plan (which is now part of Cingular). I have the phone on a belt clip just because I use it so much, but it's small enough to fit in your pocket. I pay $82 a month (there ARE other plans though), I get 740 daytime minutes and free unlimited nights and weekends. You get 30 days to use the minutes and then you replenish. If you replenish before the 30 days is up, your unused minutes roll-over.

[timote316]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:37pm

I got mine when I got my liscense, at 16.5. I don't use it too much, but did use the text messaging feature (VERY) heavily when I first got it. My little brother (12) whines that he's the only one in his class without one. I want to smack him, personally (sorry to MFL and other youngins' with cell phones)

[etheb]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:38pm

well, the problem with that is twofold: one, cingular gets awful service around here, i'm told, and also, the cheapest plan on Go Phone is $30/month, which is still really expensive for a poor college student. sigh.

[CJR]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:39pm

My younger brother whines about not having one too.

My mother told him he can have one when he gets a life to need one or gets a job.

I'm banking on him not having one till he gets a job. (this is a child who LIVES in front of his tv playing video games and watching wrestling)

[Adamaddict]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 12:54pm

*sigh* kids today...

Wow, I can't believe the one thread I actually started ran for two pages! Good topic I guess, WOOHOO!!

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 2:52pm

I am 47 and do not own a cell phone. The two tins cans and a string that I use are just fine.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/22/05 at 4:47pm

Margo - you've said exactly what I've been thinking ever since they became popular - and I even had one for about 2 years thanks to an ex boyfriend who insisted I be reachable for him - what moron. I gave mine up not too long after we broke up and I got involved with someone who actually makes sense!
Cells should be used only in an emergency situation - its as simple as that.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 11:58am

I really don't think cell phones are necessary for high school and younger except for emergencies...there are many plans out there that make it easier for parents to have some sort of control over your usage. Unless you have a job and can pay for it yourself, that's a different story. When I first started driving, my car used to break down so much, and I wasn't always in easy access of a pay phone. So I had the old-school cell (the technological advances in just 7 years is scary) just in case I needed help of some kind. I also take care of my mom, so she needs to be able to get ahold of me. Plus, she feels safer knowing I have it when I make my NY trips. Otherwise, I hate having it attached to my ear....I hate talking on the phone. I look at all these kids coming into my store with phones that I'm not going to be able to afford till I'm like, 30, and it just drives me crazy how they take advantage of it.

Posted: 2/23/05 at 12:15pm

I got my first cell phone when I was 14 because I was doing so much community theatre and other outside activities that it just made it easier for my parents to be able to reach me and me them when i needed rides. Then it became a safety feature according to my parents when i started driving at 16 so they could always reach me and stuff. Now in college, being 6hrs away from them it is the only phone i have. It is just easiest and the cheapest phone option I had. Also as a stage manager it is important that people always be able to get ahold of me and for me to be able to call whomever whenever. So I guess my feelings on this whole cell phone topic is that people should only have them for safety/emergency reasons and if your work requires you to.

[broadway86]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 1:11pm

I didn't have a cellphone until I started college.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 2:48pm

I got a cell phone when I started driving, because my parents wanted to (and still do) know where I was at all times...it seems reasonable to me.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:34pm

I have a cell phone. I live away at school for most of the year and it's cheaper to pay $49.99 a month for no long distance or roaming and be able to keep in touch with friends and family back home. My roommate does the phonecard thing to use the landlines in the dorm; it costs her about $40 a month just to be able to have a few extended phone conversations with her family. Clearly, having a cell phone is more practical, especially when I have friends all up and down the East Coast that I'm keeping in touch with.

I don't think it really matters what a person's intentions with their cell phone are. As long as you're not beating people over the head with it, it's not hurting anyone. If some people are rude and carrying on private conversations in the middle of the movie theater, then it's their lack of manners that is the problem, not the cell phone.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:35pm

my roommate and friend dont have cellphones...

[gettinhep]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 3:46pm

I do not have a cellphone and I do not feel the need to have one. Why should I be the slave to another piece of technology? However, I am not a luddite. If people need to reach me there are ample ways of doing so - my message machine, my email, my mother. But, why should I be at other's beck and call?

When I go out to the theatre, university or to do the grocery shopping, I do not require the conversation of fifteen other people. Why should I add to the frustrations of others by having a phone that produces another annoying ringtone? Nope, I think I can get by without the need to text or call everyone I have ever met the minute I leave the apartment.