Trash on the phone

Remember the good old days when phones were not mobile? If you were out for the day, that meant you were unreachable. Does anyone recall the world ending if you were unavailable? For us mortals, if we weren't home...life still carried on. I remember thinking the invention of the cordless phone was HUGE! I was entirely too happy to be able to roam about my house while gabbing. I would have been perfectly happy to have the cordless phone invention be the latest and greatest. But no.

In movies like 'Pretty Woman', (circa early 90's) when the director tried to depict the obscene wealth in California he used a shot of a man and his son BOTH on the (original) cell phone. They were talking on what looked like giant bricks with an antenna. Cell phones were a status symbol. It sent the message, "I'm so important, my calls don't have to wait". I know I was swept away in sheer deluded bliss when I got my first 'cell'. Oh the delicious freedom it provided. Cell phones have now become my nemesis.

No longer do they convey the previous message of wealth and status, everyone has them now.

I saw a guy on his bike the other day talking on his phone WHILE riding his bike on a busy highway. I was tempted to stop and ask, "Is it really that important?". I envisioned him to be talking to his woman saying, "Yeah baby, I'm just riding my schwinn, what you doin'?". My favorite are the people at the gym who are talking on their phones and walking on the treadmill (at a 2.8 pace, mind you). What the hell are they trying to accomplish?

But the thing that pisses me off the absolute most is when I'm behind a pokey driver and, if and when I get to pass them, they are on their freaking phones!!!!!!

Nothing makes my blood boil more than these idiots just mindlessly gabbing away and holding up traffic. It would be quite a different story if they were able to talk and go the speed limit, but it's virtually impossible for any human being to drive and talk without some type of display that they are ignoring the rules of the road. They cut over lanes, don't use their turn indicators or (the best) STOP at green lights!!!!!

I actually ignore most of my cell phone calls. My husband is always complaining because I rarely answer my phone while in the car. He has gone so far as to threaten to call his mother in case of an emergency over me, because she at least answers her calls.

I find driving and talking on the phone to be very trashy. I'd like to go back to the good old days of talking to people when I'm home and unoccupied. If that meant sacrificing the convenience of finding out what to get while at the grocery store, then so be it. There was a time, not too long ago, when people were unavailable and it was OK!

In the meantime, I'll just continue to do some deep breathing and lots of screaming while driving behind these mindless chatter boxes.