| Moi,
addicted to texting? No! (Is that my phone?)
By Andrea Edmunds
September 22, 2006 | I'm not addicted to my cell phone.
OK, I may be pretty bad sometimes when it comes to
texting. But it's hard to just ignore the gentle vibration
of the phone in my front pocket. It's almost like Pavlov's
dogs. The phone vibrates and my fingers start tingling,
itching to press some buttons.
When that thing goes off, if I was talking to someone
face-to-face, for all I know they floated away, never
to be seen again. My cell phone is buzzing and I need
to get it. Nothing else matters. I have seen people
literally drop everything to answer their cell phone
-- notebooks, backpacks, food, small children.
Most of the time the text message isn't even worth
it. It's something like "Where r u?" What? You couldn't
even take the time to spell out a couple three-letter
words? I really shouldn't take the time to text back.
I mean, with the screaming child at my feet and notebooks
and papers strewn across the sidewalk, I really think
that this text can wait for just a couple minutes.
But, they wouldn't have texted me right at that moment
if it wasn't important.
"idk u" (Translation: I don't know, you?)
Well, at least I didn't even bother with doing punctuation.
That would have taken much longer and people were starting
to stare.
Walking and texting is something that I am very proud
to say I have mastered. Granted, when my head is down,
looking at my phone and willing someone to text or call,
I don't notice all the pedestrians, bikers and skateboarders
swerving left and right to get out of my way. Once a
skateboarder nearly ran me down and forced me to look
up. He didn't even bother to say sorry, he was too busy
texting. That's just selfish. At least if I'm walking
and run into someone, I can't hurt them. He's taking
people's lives in his hands when he texts while he's
on a skateboard.
Texting has become such a crutch for most people.
I can't remember the last time that I actually talked
to some of my friends. We can spend hours texting each
other every day, but talking just takes way too much
time.
The only reason I still call my mother is because
she can't figure out how to turn off the all caps on
her phone, so every time she texts me she's yelling
at me.
"WHERE ARE YOU AT?"
I'm sorry mom, I'm coming home right now.
"BRING YOUR LAUNDRY HOME."
OK, OK, I will. I'm sorry. I'll never go three weeks
without doing my laundry again. I'm sorry.
But at least I know when to stop. I can get away from
my phone once in a while. One of my friends told me
they had never turned their phone off since they'd had
it. I can turn my phone off. I even did it this summer
for a couple days.
Granted, it was when I was in the middle of the forest
with no reception and I had to turn it off to save the
battery for the drive home. Even though it was off I
still carried my phone around with me everywhere. It
was a little pathetic. And, despite the lack of service
in the Montana wilderness, I still turned the phone
on every couple hours just to make sure I didn't miss
any important texts.
However, I am turning over a new leaf. I will no longer
be addicted to my phone. The dinner table, classroom,
church and car will now all be safe. I am no longer
going to drop everything just to answer ...
Is that my phone?
NW
RB
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