Why My Dad Didn't Have a Cell Phone

Here’s Dave Rupert writing about all those emails, texts, phone calls, etc. we’re getting these days:

Once upon a time it had utility, now it’s all noise and grifter slop demanding our attention and giving us to-dos

That last part really hit: “giving us to-dos”.

I feel this. So many of the messenger apps on my phone are other people laying claim to my time and attention.

It reminds me of an interaction I had with my Dad years ago.

This was back when cell phones were starting to become ubiquitous.

Not smartphones, mind you. Cell phones, i.e. telephones that were mobile. Texting wasn’t really a thing yet. These were devices for making voice calls wherever you went.

As a teen, it seemed like everyone had one: my teachers, my friends, even my friends’ parents.

They were “behind the times”. (Everyone was getting cell phones and we didn’t even have caller ID on our landline!)

One night at family dinner I asked, “Dad, why don’t you have a cell phone?”

“Why would I want to allow other people to contact me whenever they want?”

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