Haphazardly Forward:
Cell phone users gain attention campus-wide (Print-friendly)

02/06/04

Julie Young,
Staff Writer
Printed February 6, 2004

Walking through the parking lot the other day I saw a familiar sight - a girl walking alone, gabbing on her cell phone. It was broad daylight, so it wasn't as if the phone was acting as a personal safety device warding off nighttime prowlers or something.

However, I don't think anyone was on the other line. I keep seeing people on their cell phones, but to whom are they speaking? I think they are making up conversations in order to not look alone, or better yet, as a good excuse to avoid making eye contact with anyone. In other words, they "talk" on their phones because they are anti-social.

The ultimate sin occurs when your cell phone rings during class; as if you cannot possibly be disconnected from the world for more than an hour and fifteen minutes.

You are just that important: everyone must reach you at all hours of the day, paying no heed to manners and mores. Then there are the people who cannot part from the screen of their phone in class. They are far too busy checking the time or responding to text messages.

Why do you need to have all of these phone conversations? People on their cell phones rarely say much of substance. I commonly hear people saying, "Where are you?" or answering that question. My answer to that question would be, "Uh, in my room," as my telephone needs plugged into the jack in the wall. Really, who cares where you are? I don't, and I can see you.

Several times, when I was waiting for someone by the dining hall, I almost wished I had a phone so that I could look busy - like I wasn't waiting for someone who might not come.

Sometimes, to combat this, I'll check my messages on one of the house phones, taking pains to never touch the receiver to my ear or my hair, lest I pick up lice or something.

Then there are the people in the dining hall who leave their phones unattended, and naturally, the phone rings. While they are off getting their food, you're subjected to several minutes of digitized techno music, or worse yet, the William Tell Overture.
Is that almost better than the person screaming into their phone over the din? In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that I prefer it.

Of course, I'm at liberty to pick on cell phone users because I don't own one. I do, however, have a few phone faults.

My major sin? My cordless phone. My dorm room is roughly eight by thirteen feet. A regular phone cord can reach every extremity of my room. Face it; I don't have acres of land to cover, I have a shoebox.

It's not like I wander the halls of my building with my 900 MHz talking machine, either. I can hear my phone ring when I'm standing in the hallway, plus, I never actually take it with me when I leave the room. It's useless, but it's prettier than the brown wall phone that was provided.

Since I've complained about people whose cell phones are glued to their ears, I ought to admit that I am not much better - I just have my telephone glued to my ear in the privacy of my room. I have a single, so I don't have a roommate to chat with.? I've discovered that roommate loneliness can be combated by simply picking up the telephone and talking for an hour or so.

I usually end up calling someone on campus. I just dial an extension, and if that person isn't home, I'll call another, free of charge.

I fact, I use the phone as an excuse to avoid walking across the parking lot to visit someone in another building. Or, I'll admit it, I'll call three floors down instead of walking. I am that lazy.

But, I'm not lazy enough get a cell phone. I like to take my classes uninterrupted.

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