The Inconvenient Inconsideration of Convenience

It is my understanding, and forgive me for failing in my research, but supposedly Alexander Graham Bell, after inventing the telephone, said that he could see every city having one telephone. I guess he did not think too much of his invention. Would he not be surprised if he came back today to see that, not only does every city have a phone, but just about every person has a phone.

I do believe that the world is a better, maybe even safer place because so many people have cell phones, after all, if there is an accident, one need not look for a pay phone, because someone certainly has a cell phone and is probably already making a call. And cell phones are not simply phones, they can be used to take pictures, videos, surf the internet, send e-mails, text messages and more. How did we live without them? What would we do without them?

Not too many years ago, when the cell phone industry was young, and cell phones were very expensive, as well as very large, it used to be that a person was a big shot if they had a phone. Today you must be a big shot if you do not have one, because you are important enough to let other people take the calls. So, all in all, we have come a long way with our cell phones.

The problems is, I believe that our cell phones have had some negative consequences. One such negative consequence, especially in the “sport” of texting, is that people have lost the art of spelling and the technique of grammar. Of course, computers are no help since they either correct your spelling and grammar as you go, or at least make you aware of a spelling or grammar problem. At any rate, I believe that our technology is hampering our education.

As for our own personal safety, an unintended consequence of the convenience of the cell phone is the fact that, although we may believe we can multitask, the truth is that when we are attempting to do more than one thing at a time, only one of the things we are doing is getting the most attention and the rest are getting only partial attention. The consequence of this is seen in the worst case scenarios of people driving while talking on the phone and worse while texting or surfing the web, which makes for dangerous driving.

But there is still something even worse, an unintended consequence to the convenience of having a cell phone, I believe is that we have become more and more rude, maybe not consciously, nor on purpose, but I see it is happening. It never ceases to amaze me to see one person of a couple talking on the phone while eating out. Not only is this rude to your immediate guest, but to those around you who are trying to have a nice quiet dinner as well. Or how about walking through a grocery store and having someone speaking to you, and you respond only to find out they were talking on their phone. And then, when they are checking out, not paying attention to the cashier, but to their business on the phone, while everyone else in line has to put up with waiting for them to get their business done so they can get their business done. And finally, the fact that, unless you are willing to turn your phone off at times, you can be bothered at any time or any place.

As for me, I will keep my phone. I will use it when necessary. I will keep it on vibrate when speaking with others and ignore it until an opportune time to give the caller my undivide attention as the one with which I am conversing. And if at all possible, I will refrain from allowing my phone to distract me while driving. I ask that you would do the same.