Poll: cell phones

[Engineer]

You know the type, dontcha?  You go into a store/office/business and the drone behind the desk seems to think the phone ringing is MUCH more important that a live customer standing there.    There's been a few times when I have been in a store, the moron answers the phone, I make sure I catch their attention as I deliberately leave whatever I was buying behind, and exit.  The looks I get are priceless.  Occasionally they'll get a clue.

The message on my cell says that it's for emergencies only, and the best way to get ahold of me is calling my office and leaving a message.    One time I had the cell phone in the office all morning sitting on a charger.   It rang.  The caller was a guy who was trying to get me to do some work for him, was impatient and annoying to boot.  I asked him if he had called the office first (he had, several days before).  Did he call this morning and leave a message? "Oh yeah, I sure did", and proceeded to segue right into his impatient diatribe about his problems.   I cut him off, told him he was a liar to his face, and told him I didn't work for people who can't even be honest about a simple phone call.

[Max sawdust]

Don't we have enough laws that are not enforced?  Really what should be banned is irresponsible people that have no regard for other people ;)  Hmmm we can banish all the irresponsibles to Washington DC and keep them there with all the politicians, then the rest of us can go on with living a dignified life with respect for a neighbor :D
Anyway..
I use mine with a headset in the car.  I checked the hands free box.  I have been trying to be less polarized on issues : But after reading the posts my dander is getting up and I should have checked no ban, cause a phone is just a tool, and it is the person behind it that makes it dangerous, just like other tools
max

[Bro. Noble]

I ain't got a cell phone and don't need one-----------very few people on speaking terms with me :

[Frickman]

Bro. Noble,

If you got all your cows phones, you'd have plenty of reasons to use a cell phone.  ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Naw, he only needs some nice cow bells on his lead/pet cows so he knows where the heard is. ;D Uncle had 2 or 3 old bossys in the heard he'de dangle a cow bell on and could here them when grazing or walking. Most the time they were at the door to go in to be milked at the right times of day. He milked by hand and had up to 8 cows milking, everyone went modern and he still milked by hand for 13 years before he called it quits. There was never any money in it, it was a hobby and lotsa work.

[Bro. Noble]

SD,  still lotsa work and no money :(  I been thinking about that.  Here I been calling those cows stoopid.  They lay around in the shade all day and about run over me at milk time getting to the feed.  I bust my butt trying to pay the feed bill,  which is about as big as the milk check and comes more often >:(  Maybe the cows ain't the ones whats stoopid

[Frickman]

I'm driving down a local interstate/toll road this morning, about 55 mph in a 65 mph zone, with a load of logs on the truck. A young lady enters the highway from an on ramp and gets about one hundred feet in front of me. She's talking on the phone, totally oblivious to anything outside her PT Cruiser. That would be ok, if she accelerated and got a ways in front of me. She didn't, she went a few hundred yards, a quarter mile at most, and slammed on the brakes to pull off on the shoulder for something, I don't know what. I slammed on my brakes, skidded all over my lane, and came within ten or fifteen feet from hitting her. She still didn't see me or was aware of her surroundings. We almost had a major accident because she was yakking on the phone instead of driving. This is why I would like to see them banned while driving, or at least limited in some way.

Don't even ask me to wear one of those stupid looking cordless headset things over my ear. I hope I don't offend anyone, but they are some of the dumbest looking things I've ever seen. I can see where they'd be handy at work somewhere, like if you run a forklift in a warehouse and had to talk to the office. I have no problem with that. But to walk around talking to yourself, that's insane. We use to admit folks like that for psychiatric treatment, now we glorify them. I was getting fuel at the truckstop last night and some yuppy type comes in wearing one of those things like he was special or something. He wasn't even using it at the time, just wearing it. He thought it was cool, I thought it was stupid.

[Ron Wenrich]

Rarely do I comment on these threads.  But, when it comes to driving I always look back at where I came from.  Back when I was turning driving age, most of us guys have already been driving.  It may have been the old Ford tractor, or the old Jeep pickup, or the old Studebaker.  Chances are, we drove them on the road long before we were of legal age to drive.

But, nowadays, instead of getting that experience on equipment operation, it seems that kids get their experience on video games.   Driving is just one big screen.  Talking on the cell phone is just another factor of life.  I still have the rotary dial phone.   Can you say old phart?   :D

It seems that some people have no problems talking on the cell phone, while others have some serious problems.  And that is the dilemna.  Should those that can be penalized by those that can't?  Personally, I don't see why anyone has to be that "connected" to the outside world that they need a 24/7 connection.  Solitude has its own rewards.

For me, I think some people have the ability to drive and yack on the phone.  For others, they are marginally able to drive.  And that is the problem with laws.  They protect us from some, but adversely effect others. 

[PineNut]

Why should I spend good money for a cell phone so people can find me when I don't want to be found?

[SwampDonkey]

What doesn't make sence to me is when I see folks out in their back yard yapping away and paying for air time, while it would be free inside the house on the land line. Some people have a few sinapses misfiring.  :

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I'm alot like Engineer in that a person standing in front of me is more important then the one on the phone.   The person who took time and effort to come and see me wants to do business.    When doing business with a person all others can wait their turn.   Sometimes you have to call and order stuff due to distance and a message machine is a good way to leave word on what you want.   I have a message machine and it is about the only way you will get a hold of me.   Do we really need that much yaking going on?    ???

[Fla._Deadheader]

DITTO Engineer and Arkansawyer.

  Have y'all noticed how handy them cell phones are for calling 911, RIGHT AFTER you just crashed yer rig for USING the DanG cell phone ??? 

  My earliest experience was with an Attorney that we were recovering dinette chairs for. His phone was constantly going off while telling us what he wanted done to the chairs. I questioned him about that, and his response was, "I LOVE this thing". As soon as I get out of bed, I start calling people, and MY TIME starts when I dial. I make LOTS of extra money, NOW.  : : : :

[Paschale]

I voted no ban.  I use my cell phone when I drive, usually with a hands free.  I don't view as much different than if I was having a conversation with a friend who was sitting there with me in the car.  I think the problems are with people who are just bad drivers, rather than it being solely the fault of the cell phone use.   :

[Max sawdust]

What doesn't make sence to me is when I see folks out in their back yard yapping away and paying for air time, while it would be free inside the house on the land line. Some people have a few sinapses misfiring.  :

They have free land lines in Canada   Wow you guys sure have it good :D  Down in the USA land lines are very expensive, that is why many people just disconnect the land line and use the Cell phone for all calls.  This actually saves lots of money.

Land lines will go the way of the pay phone. Just look at Scandinavia and Europe, In Finland none of my friends have land lines, and the kids do not even know what a phone booth is ;)
Max

[treecyclers]

There's a new push on for a "new" phone booth - a booth that is sound insulated that you can step into to take a call on your cell phone.
It's a take on the phone booths of old, but it's more of a BYOP - bring your own phone!
I thought it was a neat concept, but don't see them being used too much.
SD

[tomboysawyer]

If I couldn't use my cell phone while driving, I couldn't take great pictures like this while I'm driving:


I'm with Engineer and Arkansawyer on not answering. It freaks some people out. My friends are used to it, but new guests or people like the guy from Amway Agway (Freudian slip?) who was quoting me on a new furnace get really uncomfortable when I let the house phone ring. Guess many Americans are Ma Bell's dogs when it comes to the phone. My phone is a tool for me, not my master. If I'm near it, I check the caller ID. Otherwise, plan on leaving a message.

The other thing I've found with cell phones is when you deal with (especially) city folk or younger folk, they expect if you have a cell phone you use it on some kind of regular basis. I've had months go by where I don't pick the thing up or charge it - which means messages left by said people on that phone instead of my work or home phone don't ever get heard by me. Like Engineer, my cell is my tool for calling out when I'm travelling or for some reason away from my other phones.

I voted no ban. Not big on victimless crimes. Unlike drunk drivers, cell phone users who get in accidents are much more likely to hurt themselves or their own property - appropriate penalty for being stupid.

[SwampDonkey]

Well the land line is $26/mo and free 'air time' for local calls. With dial around long distance it's 5 C/min. Cells here are $45 or more a month on a plan and it costs $$ every call weather you make it or receive it. Or you can use pay as you go and get a cell phone activation card for $10, 25, 50 etc worth of air time, which works out to $0.33/min as I recall. We have limited competition in my area so we have to take what we get.  : Pay phones will be here in my area for some time to come.

[Max sawdust]

Ya SD,
Same for me no compitition and service 1/2 the time.  My land line is here for some time too ;)
max

[DanG]

All of you people who are saying, "My phone is for MY convenience!" don't seem to be taking into consideration that the person you are calling has a phone for HIS convenience, too.  So you don't want to get calls?  Turn the DanG thing off!  Don't give anybody your number.  Have your phone restricted to outgoing calls only.   
                                                       
  When you call somebody else, do you not realize that you are disturbing their serenity, too?  They probably don't really mind, because they probably understand that life is happening and are courteous enough to inquire as to what the caller might need.  But if they are of like mind, and don't want to take calls, how do you ever communicate with them? ???  Why would you want to? ???  I truly don't understand that mentality. :

[Tom]

I don't even take my phone out of the house.  It's on a short string.

[Jeff]

Harold you mention 911 in a post. On United Airlines Flight 93, the last of the hijacked planes, cell phones did more than enable people to hear a friendly voice in their last moments. After learning about the attack on New York, via cell phone, passengers realized that the hijackers of their own plane were probably bent on suicide as well and decided to fight back. The FBI believed that the ensuing struggle crashed the plane short of its target, possibly the white house or the Capital building.  The cell phones were not the heros but the passengers, but they made a difference.

New technology has been dissed and dismissed since even before and along with indoor toilets. We have proof of that somewhere here on the forum because Pigman and Noble still gripe abut the indoor sitters. And I did say sitters.

[Paul_H]

I was wondering the same thing DanG but was afraid to ask  

I have a friend that lives a few doors down and we help each other out but they don't answer the phone,,,,ever  ??? It rings and they can hear it,they will look at each other as their eyes dart back and forth from the phone to me but they will not pick the stupid thing up.

They have offered to be our emergency contact if our kids ever have to call from school and we're not around but what is the point? We couldn't depend on them in an emergency because the would be ignoring the phone.

They have no problem phoning here because we answer the phone the same way as we would our front door if somebody rang.

We were taught phone manners were as important as saying please and thank you and holding the door for older folks and removing our hats indoors(except ladies of course) so that's why I answer my phone if I'm home.

I'm nobody's Dog

[SwampDonkey]

Paul, maybe the bank has been harrassing them. ;D :D They see you coming home in those fancy logging duds and they think 'that guy could be our local banker'. :D

I answer all my calls also when home and not half comatose asleep in bed. I don't sound too good on the phone when I'm half asleep. ;D

[Patty]

Life on the road before cell phones was neither productive nor safe. For those who have had to stand in line waiting for a phone booth, or at a rest area waiting for the 3 guys in front of you, or stood out in the rain calling in for messages, or drove all over a strange town looking for a pay phone only to find the one pay phone in town was broke know exactly what I am talking about. How about being the only woman at a rest area at midnight calling for directions. These were not good times. The invention of the cell has increased safety and productivity for millions of folks who used to be slaves to the toll phone.    How about breaking down in the middle of the night....alone. Do you get out and start walking to find a phone somewhere ? Do you want your wife or daughter put into this situation?  Cell phones have been one of the best inventions in years. If you don't want to own one, fine, but don't ruin it for the rest of us by passing restricitve laws. We have too many nanny laws already.

[DanG]

Amen to that, Patty.  My wife's commute to work consists of 30+ miles on the interstate at 10:30 pm.  I hate to think of all the times she made that trip without a phone. :-[

Another thought about phones and driving:  It is a whole lot safer to just answer the phone while you're sailing down the road than to suddenly pull off onto the shoulder to answer it.  I can envision a huge increase in accidents if that were to become the standard practice.