Posted in Around the House
Silent night this wasn’t. I was sitting at my computer, contemplating how long it had been since I posted to my blog, when a loud boom shook the house! It sounded like someone had dropped a large dumpster on the ground. I knew the sound too well. I went outside to find a car accident that happened only a few doors down from my house. I called 911 and once I knew that they had someone coming, I put on my shoes and coat to see if anyone needed any help.
The driver was OK, but pretty shaken up. She was trembling quite a bit as people were working to help her calm down. She was still pumped on adrenaline and talking rapidly. Right when I walked up, she said, “I was driving down the road and my phone rang, so I tried to answer it.”
Cell phones… In my last job, I managed a pool of cell phones for my company. I was also the technical support for them. I got a cell phone back one day that mysteriously stopped working for no reason, only to discover pieces of gravel embedded in the plastic. It turns out that they had “accidentally” backed over their phone in the driveway. I chalked it up to a case of phone envy, and the user got a new phone six months sooner than he would if he’d just been honest. On the other hand, his boss found out too (not of my doing). Regardless, I had no respect for the man. And due to my experiences with people who use cell phones, I swore I would never get one.
We bought one last month, a prepaid phone “in case we have an emergency with my back.” At least that’s the original reason. We started out with 70 minutes and four months to use them. Now we have less than 30. It’s all too easy to dial home from a grocery store to see if we need more butter, or to check back with someone else on something that could reasonably wait until we got home. A cell phone is convenient… too convenient. I anticipate that we will buy many more minutes before our current ones expire.
One of our first rules when we bought the cell phone was that we wouldn’t use it that often, only in cases where it was a really necessary. Obviously, we haven’t stuck fast to that rule. Yet one rule will remain for me, my wife, and my children to live by, when they’re old enough. We shall not drive and talk on the cell phone. We will let it go to voicemail or pull over, but we won’t risk our lives for a phone call. Tonight we’ve gotten another reminder that it’s just too dangerous to talk and drive.
The driver was OK, but pretty shaken up. She was trembling quite a bit as people were working to help her calm down. She was still pumped on adrenaline and talking rapidly. Right when I walked up, she said, “I was driving down the road and my phone rang, so I tried to answer it.”
Cell phones… In my last job, I managed a pool of cell phones for my company. I was also the technical support for them. I got a cell phone back one day that mysteriously stopped working for no reason, only to discover pieces of gravel embedded in the plastic. It turns out that they had “accidentally” backed over their phone in the driveway. I chalked it up to a case of phone envy, and the user got a new phone six months sooner than he would if he’d just been honest. On the other hand, his boss found out too (not of my doing). Regardless, I had no respect for the man. And due to my experiences with people who use cell phones, I swore I would never get one.
We bought one last month, a prepaid phone “in case we have an emergency with my back.” At least that’s the original reason. We started out with 70 minutes and four months to use them. Now we have less than 30. It’s all too easy to dial home from a grocery store to see if we need more butter, or to check back with someone else on something that could reasonably wait until we got home. A cell phone is convenient… too convenient. I anticipate that we will buy many more minutes before our current ones expire.
One of our first rules when we bought the cell phone was that we wouldn’t use it that often, only in cases where it was a really necessary. Obviously, we haven’t stuck fast to that rule. Yet one rule will remain for me, my wife, and my children to live by, when they’re old enough. We shall not drive and talk on the cell phone. We will let it go to voicemail or pull over, but we won’t risk our lives for a phone call. Tonight we’ve gotten another reminder that it’s just too dangerous to talk and drive.
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