Friday, October 19, 2007

I Hate Cell Phones

Warning: Rant ahead.

I hate cell phones. Granted, they are handy at times. Say I'm in Target and I need to call my mom and see if she's been looking for something, I can make a quick call. It's handy when I'm out of town and need to stay in touch with my family. I even like the peace of mind knowing that if my kids need me, they can reach me at any time.

What do I hate about cell phones? I think it's the fact that it implies urgence. There are so many times when the situation doesn't call for that.

I absolutely refuse to call customers on their cell phones. I'll have Sales Reps say to me, "call them on their cell phones, they'll answer their cell phones". But I'm not calling for something urgent - it can surely wait until they are back in their office. I don't like people asking me to call them on their cell phone - again, it's not urgent - I'll leave a message. I figure if what I have to say is important enough or interesting enough, they'll call me back. Right?

I hate talking to someone on their cell phone. The coverage is often lousy, you can hear people talking in the background or wind blowing - it's distracting, it's too difficult to talk to them.

I think driving and talking on the cell phone is unsafe (particularly without a hands free device). I don't want to be responsible for someone else's misfortune.

I don't have to be availbe to work 24 / 7. It's healthy to get away from work folks, really, it is.

Really, folks - a personal conversation while you are grocery shopping? It's not only rude to the person on the phone, but to the other shoppers as well. And, don't even get me started on having a conversation while you are checking out / having a secondary conversation with a cashier. Seriously people - can it really not wait?

I like talking to people, and I literally seem to spend about 6 hours a day on my phone talking to people. I enjoy hearing from our customers and working with them...just don't call me on my cell phone.

2 comments:

Laurie said...

Oh, Lord! How many times have I called you while I was driving? Ooops! :)

I love my cell phone. It's like an appendage. But, I do know that there are times when I just don't need to be on it (I do try to limit while I'm driving, it's just I know I'll forget to call if I don't call the minute I think about it! - Er, did that make sense?). I don't get on it while I'm out to dinner, eating dinner at home, at the grocery store in the check-out line, or just for random conversation while I'm shopping somewhere...so at least I have SOME self-control, right???

:)

Anonymous said...

I am the last person in North America under 40 with no cell phone. I realize, this makes me a freak. But truly, if I am not in my office, or at home, I do not want to talk to anyone. And a lot of 'emergencies' which require cell phones are either the result of poor planning, not really emergencies (if my husband brings home the wrong brand of cereal, the world will not end), or are emergencies caused by people crashing their cars, while talking on cell phones.