Why could you NOT live without your cell phone?

[It's A Happy Day]

Just curious......It seems like people would just die without their cell phones attached to their hips these days

I do not have a cell phone (well technically I have a pay as you go but currently it does not have minutes on it)....I have had one in the past when I was required to for work but now where I work I do not have to have it so I don't.

My driving circle is pretty limited ~ I live, work, and am able to do all my shopping within a 5-10 mile radius so there really isn't a "need" to have one. My kids are still young so no need there. BUT, friends & family are aghast that I choose not to have one I'm pretty much always available at work or home and if I'm out I can't imagine anything that can't wait till I get to one of those places. For us it just doesn't make sense to have one...not yet.

Now I do imagine in a couple years that with the kids involved in the extracurricular stuff that we will have to get something to make the pick up/drop off/scheduling stuff easier and when we do long distance driving I make sure to put minutes on the pay as you go one I have but for every day use right now it's not a need.

 

[OK!]

Mine is my only phone; I disconnected my landline years ago. I also like being able to be reached wherever I am, or being able to call someone or check my email wherever I am. It comes in very handy when on vacation.

And since I have an iPhone, Google Maps also came in quite handy when wandering around Orlando last week, looking for the condo that my parents are (hopefully!) going to be closing on next week.

 

[happygirl]

I could live out my cell. I talk to everyone I need to on Facebook. The only thing I really use my cell phone for is if I have problems while traveling

 

[jodifla]

Just curious......It seems like people would just die without their cell phones attached to their hips these days

I do not have a cell phone (well technically I have a pay as you go but currently it does not have minutes on it)....I have had one in the past when I was required to for work but now where I work I do not have to have it so I don't.

My driving circle is pretty limited ~ I live, work, and am able to do all my shopping within a 5-10 mile radius so there really isn't a "need" to have one. My kids are still young so no need there. BUT, friends & family are aghast that I choose not to have one I'm pretty much always available at work or home and if I'm out I can't imagine anything that can't wait till I get to one of those places. For us it just doesn't make sense to have one...not yet.

Now I do imagine in a couple years that with the kids involved in the extracurricular stuff that we will have to get something to make the pick up/drop off/scheduling stuff easier and when we do long distance driving I make sure to put minutes on the pay as you go one I have but for every day use right now it's not a need.

I have an 8-year-old, and I want to be able to be reached at all times if he needs me. I don't want to worry when I'm out for hours at a time shopping or running errands that the school has tried to reach me and can't. He's had a tough time the past couple years with flu bugs and other things, and I've had to pick him up several times.

Before I had my son, I didn't use my phone much, either. But then for a long time we used it for long distance calling, as well. It was cheaper than land line long distance. Now we just switched to Internet phone calling on our land line, so all calls are included, including long distance. So we've trimmed our cell phone hours.

But I like being able to reach my husband at an instant, and being able to always be there for my son.

 

[luvmy3]

I want to say that I could live without my cell, but the truth is I feel I need it. It is a way for the school to contact me if I'm not home, and I feel that is definitely something that I can't live without. Or I could, just never go out of the house between the hours of 7:30 and 3:00, but thats not going to happen

 

[LindaG4458]

We could live with pay phones if they were still around as they were in the past. We seldom use the cell phones. One day when I forgot my cellphone and needed to doublecheck something with DH I could only find two pay phones at Walmart and only one was working. Out of 700 minutes we use about 75 in a heavy use month. We just don't feel the need to be constantly connected.

 

[MichelleVW]

I could live out my cell. I talk to everyone I need to on Facebook. The only thing I really use my cell phone for is if I have problems while traveling

My Facebook/Twitter is on my blackberry and I don't leave home without it!!

I have a 40 minute drive to work...I am the parent of two teenagers, no way would I feel comfortable being without a cell phone.

If you don't want a cell phone fine, but in these kinds of threads the non cell phone people always try to sound superior to the cell phone people.

 

[mickeyboat]

I have one and I like it, but I could definitely live without it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Question for the posters who need the phone in case their kids need to get in touch with them: What did your parents do when you were your kids' ages? You all survived, right?

 

[DrCavin]

Question for the posters who need the phone in case their kids need to get in touch with them: What did your parents do when you were your kids' ages? You all survived, right?

We even survived riding without seat belts. Just because we survived doesn't mean we should not do things differently.

 

[luvmy3]

Question for the posters who need the phone in case their kids need to get in touch with them: What did your parents do when you were your kids' ages? You all survived, right?

My parents both worked so if they needed to be reached they had an alternate number besides home. There were very rare occasions where they wouldn't have been able to been gotten ahold of.
My dh works 45 minutes away and the next closet relative an hour. I do have a friend on my emergency contact, but they are only called IF either dh or myslef can't be reached.

 

[NMAmy]

Question for the posters who need the phone in case their kids need to get in touch with them: What did your parents do when you were your kids' ages? You all survived, right?

There were pay phones everywhere back then. My mom made sure I never left the house without a dime for the pay phone. And now I've shown how very old I am!

Actually, now that my dd is older, I could go back to living without the cell phone again if there were still pay phones everywhere. It does come in handy when I'm travelling or when an emergency comes up. My mother is elderly and there's been several times when I've been very thankful that she could reach me even if I wasn't at home or work.

I grew up before even cordless phones--you were tethered to the kitchen counter by the cord when using the telephone. Of course, I could go back to using the old technology but why would I want to?

 

[jodifla]

Question for the posters who need the phone in case their kids need to get in touch with them: What did your parents do when you were your kids' ages? You all survived, right?

First of all, most moms were SAHMS. And if your mom wasn't home, they called NEIGHBORS who were home. That scenario doesn't play out well today for most people.

Also, the expectation of the schools is different. We have ONE HOUR to pick up our kids after the school calls, or they reserve the right to call in social services.

And frankly, it was way tougher on parents back then when things happened -- or they were afraid things happened. I remember my father going ballastic -- just completely out of his mind with fear -- when as a tween he couldn't reach me one afternoon. I was just out for a walk with a friend and she had a huge crush on the boy who lived around the corner from me. On a dare, we stopped and knocked on his door at the end of our walk.

The boy was home, and very happy to see us. We were thrilled! So the three of us stood outside and talked for an hour. Meanwhile, my dad is frantically thinking something happened to us, and out on a frantic search for us. (He went the opposite way, or would have found us sooner.)

Now, that scenario is solved with a simple text.

 

[lspst8]

My cell phone is my only phone, so I definately need it! I haven't had a landline since about 2004. Even if I had a regular home phone, I would still want at least a pay-as-you-go cell because I have a very long commute. Just this week I called my husband to let him know I would be at least 30 minutes late because of very heavy traffic. I feel safer having my cell in my purse at all times, just in case something would happen.

 

[KimR]

There were pay phones everywhere back then. My mom made sure I never left the house without a dime for the pay phone. And now I've shown how very old I am!

Society is constantly changing in response to technological advances so that things that were at one time considered luxuries soon become necessities. People used to live without electricity too, but I'd bet no one would want to try that today.

 

[diznygirl]

Question for the posters who need the phone in case their kids need to get in touch with them: What did your parents do when you were your kids' ages? You all survived, right?

Mom stayed home - literally. We only had one car. So she was ALWAYS at home. We lived close to school and she would walk and come get us.

I don't have to stay home - I can go grocery shopping, run errands and be involved in volunteer activities. I can take a walk around the lake or sit in town chatting with my friends.

If you don't want a cell phone fine, but in these kinds of threads the non cell phone people always try to sound superior to the cell phone people.

True.



My cell phone is a wonderful convenience. I can check email, read and post to the DIS, text, read books, watch videos, listen to music, play games AND sometimes I use it as a phone.

I have it and I make the most of it!

 

[Pixiedust34]

I grew up before even cordless phones--you were tethered to the kitchen counter by the cord when using the telephone. Of course, I could go back to using the old technology but why would I want to?

We still have corded phones in our house. In fact, our kitchen phone is a corded phone! : )

I like my cell because I know that when I'm not with the kids they (or a teacher, coach, etc.) can instantly reach me in case there's an emergency. Cells are handy to have if a car problem happens and for other emergencies. It's also a convenience. If I'm at the store, I can call home and ask if we need more milk or bread.

I'm not attached to the cell all of the time. We use the landline at home (except for long distance calls) and my cell isn't a smart phone so I don't use it to access the internet. I don't even text. I do use the cell for convenience and for peace of mind if there's an emergency.

 

[luvmy3]

We still have corded phones in our house. In fact, our kitchen phone is a corded phone! : )

I like my cell because I know that when I'm not with the kids they (or a teacher, coach, etc.) can instantly reach me in case there's an emergency. Cells are handy to have if a car problem happens and for other emergencies. It's also a convenience. If I'm at the store, I can call home and ask if we need more milk or bread.

I'm not attached to the cell all of the time. We use the landline at home (except for long distance calls) and my cell isn't a smart phone so I don't use it to access the internet. I don't even text. I do use the cell for convenience and for peace of mind if there's an emergency.

I still have a corded phone too. If our power goes out, then obviously the cordless doesn't work and we get very poor cell signal here so mine is pretty much useless when I'm home.

 

[NMAmy]

We still have corded phones in our house. In fact, our kitchen phone is a corded phone! : )

I actually have one, as well. The previous owner of our house left one and it does come in handy when the power goes out and the cordless phones don't work.

 

[Planogirl]

Cell phones is all we have now.

The silly things annoy me but I decided that I want DS to be able to reach me at any time and my workplace doesn't allow us to take calls. Technically we're not supposed to have phones on at all but they can't detect vibrating phones. We didn't need double phones so we got rid of the landlines.