I Hate Mobile Phones: My Reasons Why

I\u0027m not a fan of mobile phones. In fact, I hate them. I don\u0027t have one, and if I can help it, I won\u0027t ever get one in the future. And I hate the assumption that I need one, or that I\u0027m strange for not having one. I opened a new bank account the other day and a woman who was helping me (and this is a true story) asked me if I was serious when she found out I didn\u0027t have one. She simply couldn\u0027t see how I could live my life without one. I don\u0027t see why --- I can be contacted at home, or work, so what\u0027s the problem? \nYes, I have a laptop computer and instant access to the Internet; yes, I have a digital camera and yes I have a microwave oven and an iPod but I absolutely refuse to get a mobile phone! \nOf course I can see how useful they could be, and that if there was a real emergency they could come in handy, but that\u0027s not always the case. There was a story of a guy who had a parachuting accident and found himself on top of a cliff with two broken legs. He had his mobile with him but --- guess what? He wasn\u0027t able to use it because he was in a remote area! So, in great pain, he had to pull himself along the ground with his elbows until he got to a road and could stop a motorist. So not much help for him then, was it? \nOther times they create the emergency themselves. Remember that awful story of the Kenyan student? She dropped hers into a pit latrine while \u0022answering a call of nature\u0022. So she offered the equivalent of $ 13 to anyone who could get it for her and what happened? Three men died, intoxicated by the fumes because they were so desperate for the money. That\u0027s awful. \nBut these aren\u0027t my main bugbears. No, what I hate is how my daily life is affected negatively by other people using theirs. Take a restaurant --- I really, really hate it when friends arrive and the first thing they do is put their mobiles on the table so that, in the event of it going off they stop talking to you and start ignoring you. Are they doctors? Are they giving advice on open-heart surgery? Are they talking to long-lost friends? Sick relatives? No! It\u0027ll be their mother who they saw recently, or other friends they\u0027re going to meet soon. For me it\u0027s the height of rudeness. And of course I also have to put up with the same happening on the next-door table too. And how inept and pointless the conversations are! \u0022I\u0027m with Jenny and we\u0027re having Dim Sum.\u0022 The person needs to know that? \u0022Hi, I\u0027m on the train now and will be there in about 10 minutes.\u0022 So? Are they not expected? Can\u0027t they just turn up in 10 minutes and say \u0022I\u0027m here\u0022? \nI\u0027m also affected by the light --- do the owners really not realize how bright they are? OK, maybe the stupid thing is on vibration but when it\u0027s opened in the cinema, or at a concert the owner is all lit up and the I can\u0027t concentrate on what I\u0027m watching. I was at a concert not long ago, up on the balcony, and looking down on the audience there were always at least five people using their mobiles. Why didn\u0027t they switch them off? It drives me so mad! The mate of mine sitting next to me actually answered his and started whispering loudly --- but when he saw the look on my face he instantly apologized. \u0022Sorry --- it\u0027s my sister.\u0022 So? \nFinally, it\u0027s an excuse to be late. If the waiting friend can be contacted, \u0022Just to let you know I\u0027m going to be half an hour late\u0022, then somehow being late is therefore OK. No! Just make an effort to arrive on time! Sometimes friends even blame me for sitting alone for twenty minutes when it was thy who were late because, they insist, I couldn\u0027t be contacted! No---I\u0027m never, ever going to get one!