Step Away From the Cell Phone

My friend Melissa brought up a good point on her blog, so I thought I would reiterate the point here. Clearly, I'm all for technology. It does some really great things for us — life is so convenient these days. However, maybe it's too easy. I can hardly remember the days when I had to actually remember people's telephone numbers. I talk to my boyfriend on the phone at least twice a day, but if you asked me to recite his number I couldn't. I simply scroll through my call list and dial "Ty Jordan." I only know a handful of numbers: my grandparents' house, my parents' house, my aunt's house and the golf course.

Even before the days of push-button dialing were rotary phones. Not only did you have to know the number to dial it, but it took a little work, too. I would like to see us spend a week with a rotary phone these days — we'd be completely lost. The closest we'll get to that now is a cute application for our iPhones. But lately I've been getting a little peeved about people's phone manners.

It started Sunday while I was at church. I turned my phone on silent and when I returned to my car, I pulled it out of my purse to see six missed calls from the same person. I saw the first missed call, I got the first voicemail, so why does this person continue to call and call and call? When that didn't work, this person called my parents to question my whereabouts. I stand in strong opposition to this and refused to return the six phone calls.

Today, the second peeve took place. I was having lunch with a friend (she knows who she is), and for the first part of our lunch she was texting non-stop and laughing each time a new text would come in. Why is this so bothersome? Because I might as well have been sitting alone. I went out for lunch to visit with my friend, and she's having lunch with someone else via text. I told her that in the future I was going to take her phone away while we ate lunch.

I love technology (that one was for Kip), but I also believe in old-fashioned courtesy. We're so busy going, and talking, and texting that I think we're missing the good parts when they happen.