:: My Divided Soul ::

With my impending move to California for the summer, I’ve decided–wait, I haven’t yet mentioned my move to California. Granted, if you are a friend of mine actually taking the time to read this, it probably means I’ve already told you about my move. But, for the uninformed, I’ll be moving to Santa Clara, CA this summer to intern at Intel. I’ll be working in the Programming Systems Lab on the Type-Safe IA. I’m not going to bother going into the details of that. I am without a doubt looking very forward to this opportunity.

But anways, back to the main point of this entry. I’ve decided that it is my best interest to use a cellular phone as my primary means of distance voice communication. I have for a long time felt that cell phones are evil. About four years ago, before I came to Cornell, I was using a cell phone as my primary line. However, it annoyed me in several ways. Most importantly, sound quality was horrible compared to a land line. Also, I didn’t like the way I used the phone; for instance, I allowed myself to get distracted while driving and talking on the phone. When I made the move to Ithaca, I decided to have a land line at home. I kept the cell phone in the car for use in emergencies only. It has come in handy in some of those situations, I cannot deny it.

Up until this point, I have resisted keeping a cell phone with me, despite the objections of several friends. It is true, a cell phone would have made it easier to contact me. That is precisely one of the reasons I avoided using one–I like only being available by phone when I am at home. My voicemail allowed me to check messages online, so any important messages I got during the day while in the office and, in the event of something requiring my immediate attention, I could respond. With cell phone technology being adopted at a staggering rate (along with other technologies, including email and instant messaging), there is this believe that people should be available any time, all the time.

And with that belief cell phone users make themselves available all the time: on the streets, in the stores, in cars, and even in bathroom stalls. I doubt I’m saying anything new here. We’ve all heard the arguments against cell phones and how they are making people more rude. I’m still not sure if inconsiderate cell phone usage is part of the cause or the effect.

Nevertheless, I do believe that a lot of the times I have been treated rudely in the past couple of years have related to the way someone has used a cell phone. The driving incidents happen several times a week: someone driving excessively slow or not paying attention at an intersection with a phone held up to the ear. More interesting for me was an experience in Wal-Mart a few months ago. I was in line at the self-checkout behind a woman who was ringing up her items while talking on her cell phone. Once she had checked out, she just stood there continuing her conversation on the phone despite the fact that I was behind her waiting. After a minute, I said to her, “are you going to take your bags?” at which point she gets extremely angry and defensive telling me not to be rude. I do not think I was the one being rude here, however. I told her that she can’t just stand there oblivious to the world around her and to the fact that I was standing there waiting because she was on the phone. Her final response to me before taking her bags and walking away: “I think you need to go fuck yourself.”

The primary thing cell phones have had going for them is convenience. For me, that convenience has finally won out over the drawbacks. Since I will be in California for three and a half months and then (hopefully) only back in Ithaca until January, I find a cell phone is what makes the most sense for me with regard to convenience.

So with that, I upgraded my cell phone plan and got a new Motorola SLVR (hey, if I was going to give in and get a cell phone, I at least wanted to be a technology/style whore, too). The gadget lover in me does enjoy having a new toy. Nevertheless, I will do my best to remain true to my current phone habits as best I can. I never want to be that guy whose phone rings during the movie, who attempts to dial and drive, or who allows himself to get so absorbed in his phone call that he is oblivious to the world around him. So if you see me doing any of these things, please take what action you see as appropriate to prevent me from doing it again.