By Staff
The other day I caught myself carrying my cell phone into the bathroom with me at work.
I was expecting a call soon.
When did we get to this point where we have to be constantly accessible?
At a fancy restaurant last night, a patron who was alone sat in a booth and talked on his cell phone through his entire meal - and mine.
I have seen people walking, riding a bike, in a museum, in meetings, just about everywhere talking on their cell phones.
The most common scene is someone talking on their cell phone as they negotiate a curve going over 55 miles an hour.
I have been rear-ended by someone talking on their phone and I am sure many more accidents can be tracked to trying to drive and talk at the same time.
A variety of rings, and I admit my own is especially obnoxious, interrupt work, meetings, concerts and probably even church services.
Common sense has seemed to leave us when it comes to our cell phone use.
When things got bad - they got worse.
Cell phones became cameras.
Now you never know if you are being caught on candid cell phone.
Credit cards are being photographed at checkout lanes by identity thieves who seem as though they are innocently talking.
A bartender told me his pet peeve is when the phone rings and the person waits three rings while they look at their caller ID to see if they wish to answer the caller.
My own personal frustration is hunting for my phone in my purse only to have the call end to be missed and the caller never call back.
Unlike the advertisements, cell phone reception is still a long way from being good and often the call is ended by a reception problem.
Why can't the caller try back with the understanding you weren't ignoring the ring, there was a technical problem, or a purse filled with way too much junk.
On the other hand, there are times when I don't answer my phone, like when I am in the shower. If the person calling has a number which appears on my screen, instead of "unknown," I do call them back fairly soon.
I refuse to have voice mail on my cell phone, as I already have enough mail to check with my work and home numbers.
To people who say they can never reach me, I say back they didn't try very hard.
If I could just get Ed McMahon to ring a different bell - my door bell, saying I was a winner from Publisher's Clearing House.
She can be e-mailed at marcia.steffens@leaderpub.com.