With the release of the new iPhone this week and all the news it's generated, I'm reminded again of how I don't like cell phones very much. Don't get me wrong--from what I've seen, the iPhone looks pretty cool, and if someone wants to gift me with one and pay the monthly fees, I sure won't say no! But I don't think cell phones and driving are a real good multi-tasking combination.
I work in an office. With phones. I talk on phones. A lot. I know there have been many, many times when I've tried to get the attention of someone else who was talking on the phone, and I swear to God I could rip my blouse off and that person wouldn't notice. Kind of makes you wonder about someone who's talking on the phone and driving, doesn't it? Well, it definitely makes me wonder.
I'm not exactly a patient driver. Nearly always I get in a car for the sole purpose of getting from point A to point B in as quick a time as is (mostly) legally possible. And, usually, that's either to work--when I'm invariably running late--or home from work--when I'm invariably running late and/or extremely anxious to leave the insanity of the office behind and settle into my nest of fabrics and quilting. Nothing is guaranteed to drive me nuts quicker than dumb drivers, and I'd be willing to bet that talking on a cell phone drops the average driver's IQ at least 50 points!
I used to have a cell phone. About once every week or two, I'd use it to call my husband as I was leaving work and ask him to put the frozen lasagna in the oven or call Round Table Pizza and order dinner. Then my daughter got her driver's license and a car, and I thought she needed it more than I did--for my own peace of mind, of course. The other thing is that I really (REALLY!) don't like talking on the phone, and if my husband isn't home to answer it, usually I'll just let the answering machine pick up. Yep, if you ever want to reach me, you're better off sending me an e-mail.
Driving home from work tonight, though, it occurred to me that there's a very positive side to talking on the phone while driving. Now if I want to sing along with the radio at the top of my lungs or talk to myself like a crazy woman, all I need to do is wrap something around my ear, and anyone seeing me will just assume I'm talking on the phone. I think maybe an old Hot Wheels car might be about the right size, attached to a rubber band. So, if you're ever driving through Sacramento and see a woman in a green Maxima, look closely--if she's got a toy Corvette stuck on her ear, that will be me!
I hate phones, too. I only use my cell in January at the quilt show to find my friends, and maybe one or two other times during the year. And if you call my house, you'll get an answer machine that I haven't a clue how to retrieve messages from. Those who know and love me just hang up when they get the recording! LOL.
ReplyDeleteKim, I'll look for the green Maxima the next time I'm up your way. I'll tape a Porche to my ear and we can chat away! LOL
I can relate...
ReplyDeleteThe accident that totalled my car was caused by some nut picking up a ringing cell phone from the floor of his truck.
I wonder if this is a quilter's quirk? I hate talking on the phone too. My DH calls me about 4 or 5 times a day with "what 'cha doin?". I wonder if I got a time card and punched in and out of my various activities he'd be happy to check it when he got home and stop using the phone so much?
I'm with you on cell phones. I do not want to be that accessable! Because there seems to be less and less pay phones, we decided to get a track phone. We buy a yearly minute plan for peanuts and have a phone just in case. No one has the number! I don't need a corvette to my ear to sing! I just do it and let people think I'm a crazy American. I hear weary Groucho Marks glasses let you have priviliges in traffic. Gotta try that in Montreal!
ReplyDeleteYou always make me chuckle and smile - love that picture! I, too, hate to talk on phones. And I always sing along to the radio at the top of my lungs - who cares what anyone else thinks I'm doing!
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