Who else does NOT have a cell phone?

[GaYellowDawg]

I'm still resisting. When I say I don't have one, lots of people are shocked and ask why? I say that there are times when I darn well want to be out of touch, and whatever it is can wait until I get home.

I've heard someone say that cell phones are the new cigarettes - this is an older professor on campus. He said that students used to get out of class and light up. Now they get out of class and start yakking. What I really don't get is being out with someone and talking on the cell phone. If someone wants to socialize, come do it in person.

[The2ndWheel]

1. I hear you

I'm not important enough to have to get a hold of at a moments notice, so that helps.

[miss_american_pie]

2. I don't, and hubby just got rid of his

He wasn't using his, and when I'm not near a land line I don't want to be found.

[graywarrior]

3. Me.

[TheBaldyMan]

4. I have one but I keep leaving it at home 'on recharge' IYKWIM

mobiles are like millstones really, if someone wants to get in touch with me that badly they can send me a letter in the mail. Placing them in a metal box screens out the signal as well, they don't show up as on the network. ;)

[StaggerLee]

5. I had one for a year

Gave it up in 2001.
It got to the point were I felt I needed to have it with me at all times, a feeling of dependency which I greatly dislike.

Next time one of those wireless salespersons at the mall asks me "Where's your phone?" I'm gonna tell 'em, "It's at home. Plugged into the wall were it belongs."

:hi:

[bikebloke]

6. Naff

Who needs to be on a leash. There's an answering machine at home if I'm out pedalling. And I resisted one of those for years until I needed it for the job hunt. I've been at the beach and seen eejits in swimming togs walking around with a phone clutched in their paw.

[supernova]

7. I don't have one either

but I'm considering it. Biggest reason is that my home phone set up is so old, there's static on it every time it rains. While I don't make or take calls very often, it would be nice to hear the other person when I do.

[ldf]

8. i hate it, but i finally did it

after two incidences of meeting a business associate after work where i missed him, and at one point we were literally a few feet away from each other, i finally did it. but it is a no frills phone. actually two, one for me, one for partner. $88 a month. 700 minutes.

now, i get constant wrong numbers, and solicitations.

PLUS, every time you touch the thing, it counts as a call, or a minute.

i just got my monthly bill. we (partner and i) have the lowest monthly free minutes, 700.

my phone showed i had used it for 40 minutes. i hadn't. but it was all those wrong numbers and solicitations, who left messages, so i had to call phone mail, listen to the messages, then delete them. i bet i had not actually been on the phone talking for a total of 5 minutes, for the whole month. and if i go over the 700 (not that we ever would) it is 45 cents a minute. (VERIZON)

the solicitations are what really pisses me off. i thought you didn't get those types of calls on a cell phone.

as usual, it's a scam.

[northzax]

33. did you transfer a landline number to your mobile?

I have had only a mobile (no landline) since 1999, and despite using the phone number for everything, I have never once gotten a telemarketing call (except ones I was suspecting, like a renewal at a membership group I already belong to) on my phone. I ditched my landline because that's all I got on that.

unless it is a group you already belong to, telemarketers cannot call mobile numbers. period. Answer the phone and tell them that.

ps: your plan sucks. Have you considered pre-paid? for the amount you use it, might be a better deal?

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

9. I don't.

Had a 2nd hand pay-as-you-go one briefly in 2000, but hated it. Every now & then I think one would be handy, but I haven't sucumbed. I suppose if I drove I might get one for emergencies, but that's about it.

[LynneSin]

39. The "pay-as-you-go" plans have improved greatly

I had one of those back in 2001 and it just sucked. They have vastly improved the plans since then.

But I have the regular cell phone and have a great price through my company's discount program. I even signed up my parents on them although their cell phone bill is under my name

[libnnc]

10. Cell-less here

sometimes I feel like I need one but I've resisted the urge

[KyndCulture]

11. I don't have one. I see no need to be that connected.

I like my solitude.

Cracks me up when I see people in the park with their kids or dogs, or on the beach or playing golf talking on their phone... that's not very relaxing now is it?

[Floogeldy]

12. Cell phones are great.

1. So parents can stay in touch with their kids.

2. So one can conduct business even while out of the office.

3. So one can immediately call for help in the event of an emergency.

:)

[Evergreen Emerald]

13. I do not know how my parents survived without cellphones

and computers and microwaves!

The cellphone is a lifesaver for me as a mother.

[BigMcLargehuge]

14. I don't have one

Mrs. McLarghuge does, and I occasionally use if it I am out of town. But I have no need for one at the moment.

[gizmo1979]

15. I don't iI thought I was the last human

without one.Drat I guess I'm not.

[Minnesota Libra]

16. I too CHOOSE to be out of touch sometimes and I HATE people........

.....who interrupt a visit or interrupt in other social situation with a cell phone.

I know I'll get flamed for this one :rant: but I've seen the accidents cell phones cause. So in IMHO people who drive and talk on a cell phone should loose their license for a minimum of 1 full year. No questions asked, no excuses accepted.:grr: If someone has or sees an emergency on the road that requires calling 911 - they shouldn't be driving any further anyway. So pull over, pull out the cell phone and do your thing.

[PassingFair]

17. After reading the latest Stephen King novel...

I'd dump mine if I could, but I'm on the
road all day, selling stuff, and I don't
need to tell you how much of a hassle it
is to find pay phones these days.

[Katherine Brengle]

18. I don't :) I used to, but I rid myself of that bad habit!

I had one for a year or so, and it was expensive and unnecessary--now I don't even answer my regular phone, lol.

I don't want to be accessible 24/7 no matter where I am!

[ForrestGump]

19. I didn't used to. Didn't like them, primarily because of the behavior of

the people using them but also because of the way they symbolized always being on a leash of some kind, or available for people (especially evident among my family members who are in the entertainment business, who were constantly on their cell phones). I figured I'd be the last person in the US to own one.

But then my living situation changed. I entered an unsettled refugee/fugitive phase and I needed some point of contact that did not change, for family and jobs, even when I moved from one place to another -- the cell phone was ideal. I now have a cell phone and no land line...it's the most practical solution. I have a fairly good deal, too, because the phone's a hand-me-down from a relative who got it through a movie studio (studios negotiate great plans for such), so I inherited a pretty generous plan (at least by comparison with many I've seen).

At least nowadays, now that mobile phones are so prevalent, people who have them don't make a big show of it -- it was disgusting, back when cell phones first began taking off in the late '80s and into the early '90s, how cell phone users (male ones, at least) so often obviously played up the fact that THEY had a CELL PHONE. Loud-talking, ostentatious yuppie mofos...I'm sure they have since found some new gadget with which they hope to impress others (a Hummer, maybe). Not that there aren't plenty of other idiots abusing their phones in public...

[CBHagman]

20. I don't have one.

For starters, I don't talk on the phone much (E-mail has proved more practical). Secondly, I don't really need one for business purposes. Thirdly, I simply hate the things. They have their uses, but mostly they just create divisions and disruptions. They go off in church and at museums and in the theater. I walk down the street and watch my fellow pedestrians. Most of them have their heads cocked to a cell phone. People check out at the supermarket without so much as interrupting their chatter on that device.

It used to be that if a beeper went off in church, we knew an emergency volunteer was being summoned to help someone. Now it's just routine ringing during hymns, sermons, and prayers. The church requests that pagers and cell phones be shut off to allow "a prayerful atmosphere," but you can imagine how effective that plea is.

Once I went to hear Helen Thomas speak, and the moderator very carefully asked us to put all cell phones on vibrate During the discussion, Mr. I'm Too Damned Important to Consider Other People's phone went off, and he answered it while climbing across a row of people on his way out the door. I'm sure he was Very Important. I'm also sure he was socially incompetent. :mad:

[Tracer]

21. I didn't have one. Didn't even want one ...

... but my son bought me one this past Christmas.

It's a pre-paid Boost Mobile phone.

I call it my "ghetto" phone, since it seems to be marketed directly at inner-city black kids. (Go to the web site, if you don't believe me.)

A most peculiar choice for a middle-aged, suburban, white woman. I have to assume that son simply picked it out because it was the first thing he saw (not a good shopper, him).

I managed (with the help of a magnifying glass) to get it to activate.

As of today, I've never used the thing.

[emmajane67]

22. I have one but I am notoriously bad at screening.

Just because I have a cellphone does not mean I have to answer it!

[Midlodemocrat]

23. I just bought a blackberry last night.

Still learning how to use it.

[DrGonzoLives]

24. It's cheaper than a land line

n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

25. I don't have one and don't have any desire to change that.

[serryjw]

26. I don't and don't want one

I know no one that is so important that they can't wait until I get home. Maybe if I had young kids it would make sense.
I think those phone chat rooms are strange. WHY socialize on the phone when you can do it in person?

[Rhiannon12866]

29. I know exactly what you mean, my friend.

I wouldn't mind having one, in case of emergency, but I see people in the produce section of the grocery store talking on the phone and I can't help laughing! What is so important that they have to talk on the phone there? Broccolini or broccoflower? LOL!:D

As for phone chat rooms, who is that lonely? When I first saw, years ago, a late-night commercial for men who could phone brunettes, blondes or redheads, I actually laughed out loud. I just didn't get why anyone would want to talk to anyone that they didn't know...:crazy:

[northzax]

35. cause they are talking about shhh...

s---e---x.

the whole 'party line' thing is just a cover, like all the 'massage parlours' you see in the sports section. really, how many men who read the sports section religiously want a swedish massage?

[Rhiannon12866]

44. But as my friend said, because he just doesn't get

why guys are into porn or strip clubs: why would someone get off on seeing a stranger? And no matter how many dollars that these guys give these women, they still aren't going to sleep with them.:crazy:

And I'm not into long phone conversations with people I know. Why would I want to talk to some stranger? If I wanted this, I wouldn't have subscribed to the "no call list.":shrug:

[Marie26]

27. Me!

I'm the last person I know w/o one. I hate cell phones w/the blinding passion I normally reserve for SUV's. Have you ever known people that seem to have it permenantly attached? Some people do have it permenantly attached to their ear, creating a weird cyborg effect. Once I was in an elevator alone w/a man who started spontaneously laughing & talking to invisible people. I was edging for the emergency button when I noticed the in-the-ear phone. All this so they can say, "Hey, I'm just shopping, yeah, do you think brown is a good color for me?"

[Rhiannon12866]

28. I don't have one, either.

I'm technologically challenged and when I finally got e-mail, I considered this my step into the 21st century. I wouldn't mind having one, for the convenience, but I wouldn't know where to get one, what kind, or what to do with it!:dunce:

[Oeditpus Rex]

30. I have one, but

it stays in my truck, and I haven't used it in... gawrsh, a couple years, at least.

It's for emergencies only.

[Barking Spider]

31. I don't.

Did for a while, but gave it up months ago. My life is better for it.

[Squeech]

32. Me too

I dislike talking on the land line bad enough; why would I want to be reachable 24/7?

There are people I don't hate talking to, but somehow or other they're seldom the people that call.

Everybody else seems to think I'm eternally pre-emptible. Fuck that shit, I want my privacy. Call me a Luddite, I don't care.

And then there's all those people in the streets, subways, restaurants, etc. talking animatedly into thin air. I wrote a little song that I'll share (the lyrics) with you:

I talk to people that no one else can see
And there's voices in my head that answer me
Only yesterday you'd've called me crazy
But now I've got a cell phone

I've got a secret, let's keep it between us
Just you and me and forty people on the bus
My indiscretion makes a big impression
Cuz now I've got a cell phone...

[myrna minx]

34. No Desire for one.

I enjoy my privacy.

[deutsey]

36. I don't, but my wife does...

I still value my ability to be unreachable when I want to be.

[northzax]

37. why is it, you think

that no one seems to understand the concept of the 'on-off' switch?

[Samurai_Writer]

38. I have one but it's useless where I live

No signal up in the mountains at home, and I don't use it during the day because it's peak hour billing. The only time I use it is if I am down in town on the weekends, doing my laundry. Then I will call my mom and my son to do my weekly call to them. I'm probably paying way too much for the damned thing.

[LynneSin]

40. I think not having one is a mistake. Hear me out

I held off for the longest time thinking that I didn't want to be like everyone else and that I didn't want to be 'found' if I wasn't at home.

But after 9/11, I realized that I needed a cell phone and I love mine.

Back on 9/11, I was working third shift. Since most of the calls during daytime hours were telemarketers, I turned off my phone during the day and got call-answering so I wouldn't hear when the Answering machine picked up. So if I was asleep, you could not contact me.

Anyhow, my mother tried calling me about 2 dozen times during 9/11 to see if I was ok (yeah, like Wilmington DE is a haven for terrorists). But I didn't hear a thing and slept through most of the event.

After that I got a cell phone. Then I gave my number out to people who knew not to call me during daytime hours unless it was an absolute emergency.

Now, as for the complaints about "Don't want to be found" well, it's simple - don't answer the phone. NOt like I'm required to answer the phone everytime it ring.

But if my car breaks down in the middle of the night, I would rather have my trusty cell phone with me so I can get the help that I need instead of relying on strangers who drive by. It's not the same world that we had from 20 years ago. If you can find an affordable plan - even one of those "pay-as-you-go" you're better off with one.

[Dukkha]

41. Never had a need for one because I have social skills

I prefer to interact with humans face to face and show them courtesy. There is nothing that important to say to someone on the phone that can not wait until I get home. As for emergencies, well that's the ONLY thing a cell phone is needed for, and I just use pay phones or merchant's phones for that.

[Blue_In_AK]

42. Don't have one, don't plan to get one.

[long_green]

43. Not yet, but probably soon

BTW, complaining about cellphones will be extinct soon. It will soon be much ruder to say anything about anyone using their phone, no matter how inappropriately.

[In_The_Wind]

45. I didn't have one until a good friend called for my help at 3 AM.

No one answered the door when I got where I got where I was going. I had a heck of a time finding a pay phone where I felt comfortable standing outside my car at that hour. The next day I got a cell phone for my own safety.
These days it saves extra trips back out to the store.