Kicking and Screaming

The title of this post refers to me, being dragged into the 21st century. I freely admit, I don't want to go. If I had my way, we'd all still be writing on manual typewriters. In fact, I was much more productive when I wrote on an old manual. The computer is a window into a boundless world of distraction and playtime, which equals a lot of wasted time, at least for me. The plain truth is, I'm a techno-phobe and I dislike change with a passion. Does that surprise you?

Yesterday marked yet another reluctant step into the new millennium. We got our first cell phones. Yes, first time ever. Hubby and I both swore we'd never have one. Aside from being just plain old stick-in-the-mud fuddy-duddies, our main issue was the rudeness factor. Too many conversations interrupted by someone's cell phone ringing and them stepping away to talk. Too many people driving down the road with phones glued to their ears. Too many people walking through stores, itemizing the things on the shelves to an unseen person on the other end. Hubby complains often about customers holding up the line at his business because they're too busy talking on the phone to tell him what they've come to buy.

So, we hated that people are walking around, not paying attention to what they're doing because of the gizmos pressed to their ears. We swore we'd never be those people. Then, something happened. Our son got his driver's license and hit the road, alone. He went out into the big world with no way at all to communicate or call for help if something happened. That scared the daylights out of us.

So there we were last night, sitting at the kitchen table, trying to figure out how to turn the things on. (son wasn't here to show us) They'd been activated and charged, but we were clueless about how they worked. Hubby finally resorted to reading the user's manual and we were in business. We called each other, just to see if they worked. One was switched over to voice mail mode (which hadn't been set up yet) so it was back to the manual. Now we're good to go. We hope. These things have features we'll never use, though our son just might. But at least now we'll feel a little easier when one of us gets in the car and drives away. Help is just a phone call away. As far as hubby and I are concerned, these are reserved for emergencies only. The last thing I want is a phone ringing in the car while I'm driving to town and back. I do some of my best thinking while I'm driving. Yeah, I sometimes miss a turn because I'm all up in my head, but I eventually get where I'm going. ;o)

Devon