Yes, I have finally bowed down to social pressure and acquired a cell phone. I feel a deep sense of shame for doing this - I'm nowhere near important enough that people need to reach me at all times, and it feels incredibly vain and arrogant to assume that I'm cool enough to need it; and completely aside from that I just have a deep aversion to needless costs and needless gizmos. I've had a cell phone before, true, but that was mandated by school and entirely against my will, so I could feel morally sound while still benefiting from it. But I've run into enough situations recently where it would have been helpful that I decided to give in.
Are we back to perception problems again? One doesn't get a cell phone because of "social pressure", or because one is "important" or "cool"; that's all media bullshit. The key is your last sentence -- you've reached the point where having one is useful for you, and that's what matters. There's no moral issue here at all.
If it makes you feel better, you don't need to have the thing surgically attached to your hip. Ours is generally in the kitchen; we use it when we need to, on our own terms. We don't even have the voicemail set up, because we don't want to encourage people to think of that as a way to get hold of us. But when we're traveling, it's invaluable. And that's why we have one.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-06-08 08:27 pm (UTC)Are we back to perception problems again? One doesn't get a cell phone because of "social pressure", or because one is "important" or "cool"; that's all media bullshit. The key is your last sentence -- you've reached the point where having one is useful for you, and that's what matters. There's no moral issue here at all.
If it makes you feel better, you don't need to have the thing surgically attached to your hip. Ours is generally in the kitchen; we use it when we need to, on our own terms. We don't even have the voicemail set up, because we don't want to encourage people to think of that as a way to get hold of us. But when we're traveling, it's invaluable. And that's why we have one.