It's for you!

"Hello? . . . Are you there? . . . Can you hear me now?"

"Hi! You've reached my voice-mail. Leave a message after the beep!"

Sound familiar? Of course it does. It is something that we all are familiar with and what some take forgranted: the cellular phone. Yesterday, my phone just stopped working. It was not that the battery had died or that it was just momentarily malfunctioning. No, it just died. And all of the sudden I felt so vulnerable! All of the sudden, I have no way of contacting ANYONE if something were to happen to me while I was out, driving, alone, and it's dark outside. I think: "Well, at least I could go use a pay-phone if I really needed to." But then I remembered that I have no way to access the numbers of anyone I know because I've never actually dialed anyone's number. I just always find their name in my phone list in the phone and press 'talk' to dial their number automatically. I also remember that I don't have any change in my purse anyway. I can't remember when I last had change in my purse! I have just been so used to using my 'debit' card for everything that I no longer think it is necessary to carry any cash at all! WoW. Then I realized why I was feeling so vulnerable. It is because I have come to depend on my cell phone. It is my life-line. I never think of not ever having a cell phone. I've been the one taking this seemingly small luxury forgranted.

You see, I've grown up with this technology in its early developmental stages. I have not known a world without this ability to contact someone right away if I needed or wanted to. I remember when my dad first brought home a "car-phone" that was somewhat mobile. I remember how just a few short years later, that phone seemed so bulky and superfluous. And I got my own pager. That was junior high for me. That was when I was only just becoming aware of the telephone as a means of communication with my friends and family. I remember "pager-code" was so cool and if you didn't know it, there really was no point in even owning a pager. And then came high school. I remember when I traded my pager in for my first cell phone. It was the Nokia phones that were the hit at the time. Everyone who was anyone had one of these phones. So by that time the industry had obviously taken off, giving everyone more of a reason to need a cell phone. Slowly, we all come to understand how having a cell phone is a good idea, just in case of an 'emergency.' That's how I remember it starting. That was how I convinced my parents that I, too, needed a cell phone, so that I would have it for 'emergencies' while I was out with my friends or driving alone. After a while, I couldn't put that thing down. That was the only way I would talk with my friends. Oh, and the bills were outrageous! I remember trying to work more hours at my job so that I wouldn't be late in paying the first bill that I was solely responsible for. Clearly, this is my generation, caught up in the entanglements of the wireless communication era.

I suppose that the reason I was wanting to write about this is that I wanted to just sit back and think about how we are really privileged (in this country, I guess) to have this ability to cry out for help from just about anywhere. And it is a luxury, I think, to be able to just talk with friends or family whenever and wherever. I'm thinking about how safe I feel when I get a flat tire while I'm driving on the freeway and I don't even have to get out of my car to go find some kind of phone to call for help! I can use my cell phone to directly call for a tow-truck, which also saves me the time it would have taken searching for another kind of phone. I'm thinking about how safe I feel when my surroundings are unsafe. I can use my cell phone to call someone I know to come find me and help me. I'm thinking about how nice it is to be able to call someone when I am just around the corner to tell them to come on out for me to pick them up (laziness, I know, but you do it too, don't you?). I'm thinking about how nice it is to be able to call my husband after a long day at work just to hear his sweet voice until we can see each other again in person (I know, I'll see him when I get home. But sometimes I just can't wait to talk with him!). I'm thinking about how nice it is when I am lost and cannot find the right directions that I don't have to find a gas station to pull into to ask some stranger. I can call someone I know for the right directions to bring me safely to my destination (sometimes I'm scared of the people working the gas stations late at night!). And I'm thinking about how nice it is to be able to prepare for those important calls that you just can't miss. As long as you have that cell phone with you, you can take that important call wherever you are (that way you don't have to miss that call at all!).

Well, whatever other benefits there are that I haven't thought about, I do believe that it is worth it to have one. And I know that I will feel safe again as soon as I get myself a new cell phone! Until then, you can just leave me a message! (heehee!)