Cell Phone Issue

English: T-Mobile’s G1 phone (HTC Dream), using Google’s Android software (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Know what makes me uncomfortable?  When someone gets a new cell and they are showing it off to me and hands it to me to check out.  Now where do I start? Ok it has apps. Most phones do.  What else do I look for?  How long should I keep it in my hands to not seem rude? Should I make a test call? What? What? What do you want me to do with the thing??  I feel the same way when someone passes me a freshly born baby.  Cute but what do you want me to do with it? 

 

Now I like my electronics, don’t get me wrong.  I am just not a huge fan of the ever-evolving-but-staying-the-same cell phones.  Maybe I need to text more or play more cell-based games.  Yeah, maybe that’s what my problem is.  I am underexposed to the infinite power of the smartphone.  Until a couple of months ago, I didn’t even own a smartphone.

I am lukewarm on cell phones.  As long as it’s a smartphone, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.  How many Gs does one really need? What’s a G, anyways? So understandably, I don’t get it when my friends get all giddy on their Facebook statuses about their impending acquisition of the latest in cell phone technology.  ”I get my iPhone today!!! Woot! Woot!”  Woot Woot?

The weird kid

Today, I saw a ‘weird’ teenager at the bus stop. He was totally an outcast.  Standing there naked of any electronic device.  No wires dangled from his ears and no cell phone nestled in his hand.  I noted how he looked confident and studious as he waited for his bus. How odd that his neck was not craned over a cell phone sending text messages, oblivious of the world around him.  In this electronic and texting age, this kid was the epitome of odd and weird.  Didn’t he feel the urge to listen to some loud music blasting out of some Dr. Dre’s headphones? How about keeping tabs on his friends waiting at the bus stop across the street?  The ones he sat next to in class…

Not believing this weird and unusual sight, I decided that this teenager must have some even weirder parents who instilled such odd values in their son.  Maybe they had no television or if they did, they did not give it the worship it deserved. Maybe they had a no-cell rule at the dinner table. Heck, if they even owned a computer, I can assure you such weird parents would have time limits set on it. It was incredible that such people still exists.  How dare them defy the status quo! How dare them not conform!

As the bus arrived to pick up Mr. Weirdo, my eyes followed him to his seat.  He probably felt my stare because he suddenly glanced in my direction and a trace of a smile cracked his face.  Then he waved.  Weirdo…