Cell-ing Out

When I was a lad, I used to love the tricorders on the TV series, "Star Trek". "Wouldn't it be great," thought I, "to have a device so you could get in touch with someone whenever you needed to?"

Be careful what you wish for. We now have cell phones. 

I have a cell phone, and I must admit, it gives me a great feeling of security that, should I ever break down in my car in the middle of nowhere, I will be able to contact help. Provided I have enough "bars" in the area for my cell phone to work. Just like on "Star Trek".

There is a small problem with cell phones, however: PEOPLE CAN'T GET OFF THE FREAKIN' THINGS! No matter where you go, someone is chatting away on their cell. Here are some of my "favorites":

• People in the supermarket, loudly asking the person at home what they need to get. Gee, in my day, we had some little inventions called "pencils" and "paper", on

which you wrote what you needed to get before you left for the store.

• People driving in their cars and chatting away on their phone, while trying to make left turns, drinking coffee, or anything else you're not supposed to do while you should be concentrating on the road and have both hands on the wheel.

• How about the folks who chat on the phone in public restrooms? I have had a few  incidents where I was sitting in a stall, doing my "business", alone with my thoughts, when I thought I heard someone speaking to me. "Hello?", I replied. Then I heard a voice saying, "Hold on, some creep in the next stall is talking to me." Turns out, it was just my next door neighbor on their cell. Was what you had to tell your contact SOOOO important you couldn't wait till you got off the potty?

• The biggest bane of my existence, however, is teenagers "text messaging". Sure, I was once a teen, and I liked communicating with my friends, but I never really felt the need to send a message about every single piece of minutia that was happening to me at the moment. Maybe it's a generation-gap thing.

This post is rapidly becoming a grumpy old man rant about change and the manners of young people, so I will end it here.

Besides, my cell phone is ringing!