25.06.2002
feeling kinda
so. i've finally done it. i bought a cell phone.
yes, yes, i know. all the cool kids have already done it. i'm a little behind the times. so sue me. ;)
i've resisted for a long time. i just don't feel the need to be that connected, y'know? for me, having a cell phone gave me the feeling of being tethered. anyone could hunt me down, wherever i might be. and who needs that? made me think of a friend who had a phone jack next to the toilet in his bathroom. i was poking around the apartment while helping him move; when i spotted the jack, i said to him 'if you *ever* call me from the can, i will never speak to you again.' of course, has that kept me from doing exactly the same thing with my cordless? nooooo. yeah, yeah. i'm all about double standards.
and honestly, i'm just not all about the new toys. well, except for a digi cam. i really want a digi cam. but it took me ages to get a new VCR. don't even talk to me about DVDs. i've never actually bought a television; i just inherit them. and i don't need the bleeding edge of technology; my dragging edge computer works just fine for the things i want to do, thankyouverymuch.
i mean, jeezum, it took me how long to actually buy a car? (don't do the math; you might hurt yourself.) and my dream car is a 1967 MGB GT. oh, and that Palm Pilot i had? gave it away. just gave it away to someone who would actually use it.
but i realized when i got Penny that it made sense to get a phone. i do nearly all my driving alone, and for safety reasons, i'd rather be able to call for help should (goddess forbid) anything happen. so i shopped around, rather desultorily, for a good plan. i checked a few places, got the details, and did nothing.
then the Big Phone Company came to my office and offered us a discount on phones if you got a one year plan. pretty standard. i held my arm out to the sales wonk and said 'twist my arm'. so he did. and now i have a phone.
again, i've bought something by accident. i meant to put some planning into it, really i did. but inertia being what it is, i waited for the deal to come to me.
it's taken me a while to figure out my voice mail - frustrating, as i managed to have activated the mail box without knowing how to get it. so these poor abandoned little messages sat there, plaintively beeping at me every time i turned the phone on. but i've at least got that working now.
sadly (in a funny sort of way) i figured out how to program 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' as my ring tone before figuring out my voice mail. ;)
and she's got a shiny emerald green face plate now, so i can tell it apart from my friends' phones without having to turn it on. silly sales wonk - i asked him if an alternate face plate came with the package, because i wanted to color code it. 'oh, so you want a pink one to match your girlfriends' phones?' [insert Glare of Death here] 'actually, no. jet black.' i am so not a pink girly girl. i really wish i could have found a Red Sox face plate for it. i'm surprised they don't exist, frankly. after all, even the WNBA has team face plates. why not the baseball teams? [note: if you want to run with this idea, be my guest. no patent here.]
the oddest thing about having the phone and using it while walking down the street is that i feel vaguely like a poseur. it's not as if i haven't used other peoples' cell phones. and i don't have the ear bud with the collar clip, so i don't look like a deranged fool, waltzing down the street talking to myself. but it feels odd. foreign. i've never liked having to listen to one side of a conversation when other people do it. and now i'm one of Those People. part of the price in catching up to the 21st century, i guess.
