One of the things I find fascinating about the four years I spent at Florida State University - circa 1998-2002 - was that in this short period of time, I watched the world change.
During my freshman year I remember complaining with my dormmates about the horrendous fees required to make long distant calls from our rooms. I recall actually purchasing an answering machine. I remember that people actually remembered phone numbers for their friends. But most of all I remember a world where no one could be reached when they were out. Amazing! This world existed in the very not too distant past. Looking back, I was rather fond of this world.
A year or so later, there was quite a noticeable shift. I ran into a friend at a coffeehouse I frequented in a drab, smoky basement beneath a club. We got to catching up. She said something I thought was unusual for someone I associated with to say.
"Guess what? I got a cellphone!"
This was odd because I always thought the very idea of cellphones were kind of silly. And in no way did I ever think that anyone of my peers could be considered important enough to actually need one like, say doctors or lawyers and other folks with fancy schmancy jobs that young college students were only aspiring to be at that age.
However I was rather intrigued by the "great deal" it was. She had free long distance after 10pm to call anyone she wanted for as long as she liked? And then she offered to let me call someone. Given all the possibilities I suddenly had to make a FREE phone call to anyone I pleased, I decided to wake up my mother and tell her I was calling from a friend's cellphone and it was free. My mother thought it was sweet, but didn't really care considering how she felt about being woken up. Or cellphones for that matter, which she had instilled in me were silly to begin with.
In the coming months, more and more people now had these devices. And boy, were they attached to them. Cellphone rings began interrupting professors in my classes. Then, I would walk out of class only to witness a sea of classmates immediately initiate contact with others via cellphones. The world suddenly seemed so disconnected.
In a sense, could I blame them? The add-ons for cellphone contracts were just getting better and better as companies competed for business. More free daytime minutes. Earlier unlimited night time and weekends. No roaming, whatever the HELL that was. Free phones when you sign up. Catherine Zeta-Jones in advertisements. Ooooh look it is a camera now too!
Amidst this new global takeover of cellphones, the biggest downfall from my perspective, was the sheer and utter lack of appropriate cellphone etiquette. People were talking on cellphones EVERYWHERE. On the bus. In the supermarket. In the gym. At the movies. In the car, while driving. I would be hanging out with my friends only to be disturbed by a sudden ringing, where then I would be immediately be left of what was apparently a much more important or stimulating conversation. Even when out to dinner this would happen... I was completely disgusted with the direction our social order had devastatingly turned.
Thus, despite the fact that EVERYONE I knew eventually had one by my senior year (including my mother who justified it as a safety net for long motorcycle rides) I refused to get one. According to my budding self-righteousness on the matter, it would be a serious blow to my personal integrity to contribute to the downfall of society in such a way.
With that, I maintained an incredible resolve for almost three years after my college graduation. I pleasured in racking up hefty long-distance phone bills. I delighted in using a caller ID to see who called while I was out. I magnanimously preached the ills of inappropriate cellphone usage to anyone I associated with, if I felt offended in some way by their hideous gadget. I shouted out "Sell out!" whenever I would see Catherine Z-J's face. And mostly, I hoped for the best whenever I traveled anywhere by car, alone.
I had a surprisingly good run, really. I went away to school again, and used phonecards to contact my friends. Every once and awhile I would borrow a phone as an issue of convenience, but it was sparingly. Sometimes, I fourtunately found myself traveling with folks who had their own cellphone; sometimes not, though I was admittedly relieved to make it through remote Wyoming without a flat tire.
When I went home to begin anew this past March. I had a realization that made me cringe. This was that it made more sense to by a cellphone then to preserve my integrity. I was moving to a new yet-to-be-determined city, looking for a place to live, looking for a job, and traveling by myself across the country to get there - I needed a cellphone!
So I shot myself in the foot and got one, proclaiming only to use it for good.
I am sad to report I have succumbed to its evil... It has become an attachment so important that I would rather leave my house naked, then without it. I drive with it. I talk on it in supermarkets. I've even made amends with Mrs. Douglas. I'm one of those people I used to curse.
Today I noticed this startling pattern resurging and consuming my soul. Once again, I have been sucked in by something my hearty resolve has resisted despite immeasurable forces of mass popularity.
Last night at 3:15am I finished <sigh> reading Harry Potter, book 1. And to make things worse, I begged Stephanie and Patrick to find their copy of book 2 for me ASAP (I waited 'til this morning!) so I wouldn't have to go without it for long. Damn. I don't even know who I am anymore.
