Despite the fact that I live and work in the technosphere, I've actually been able to keep this under relative control with a little bit of planning and effort. I maintain that having a cell phone is just for my convenience, not for anyone else's. Ideally, it replaces pay phones, which are now mostly something that kids ask: what's that? So here's a few tips on how to make sure cell phones don't ruin your life:
- Turn them off when you're at home or actually busy
This seems like a simple thing, but if people get the idea that you're always reachable by your cell phone, you will, uh, always be reached.
People who newly get my number find themselves disappointed on a regular basis that calling the number usually takes them straight to voice mail.
Then they stop doing it, unless it's actually important or they know (because I've told them) that I'm reachable that way.
- Set your ringtone to vibrate
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Precisely.
I use to be one of these people who nattered on about the intrusiveness of cell phones (as if I grew up in a sepia toned, simple-tech wonderland, angling for catfish by the old watering hole and listening to grampa's stories on the front porch instead of, in truth, being hatched in a lab...yes).
Then I stumbled upon what, from now on, I'll call Big Jordan's Cell Phone Sanity Program and things calmed down nicely.
And really, I think this is mostly a problem for those of us who are part of the telecommunications use transitional generation - that is, we're accustomed to feeling a certain social pressure to answer the phone when it rings (a habit acquired in the land line era).
To us, it often seems rude to depend upon v-mail and SMS is something for our kids to play with.
Time to get over that.
I recently purchased a bluetooth headset for my tiny Motorola...that has come in very handy as well (though you do come to resemble a first gen cyborg). It's also added hours of fun to my day as I've worked to crack the encryption between phone and headset and intercept my own conversations.
More from America's top cell phone therapist, Big Jordan...
- Recognize that cell phones suck
The technology just isn't any damn good. Dropouts, static, lousy vocoders, etc. all add up to an unfulfilling experience. Let your caller know that you think so: I'd love to keep talking to you, but these cell phones suck. Let's talk later on a real phone, or better yet: let's get together.
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Verily.
My wife, who, as longtime Monroe watchers may recall, hails from the small but mighty land of S. Korea, routinely (and with great glee) denounces the overall sucktacular nature of cell phone networks in general but American cell phone networks in particular which are shamefully engineered and often poorly maintained.
Indeed, my v-mail message use to say, "sadly, cell phone networks are terrible...this is why I don't answer my phone...leave a message (which I routinely check) and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."
Beeeep!
.d.