So, it's hard to exist without a cellphone, but I know where all the working ones are in my city. And they are few and far between!!! Because according to the local pay phone provider,  I don't have a cellphone, so I must be a loser drug user, right? I mean, this is what people in my city say when I complain about lack of pay phones...

I used one Friday, $0.25. I tried to use it Saturday and it wouldn't work. Called the operator, and local calls are now $0.50.

I'M FECKING PISSED, YO!!!!!!!!!!!

AND! They just opened a new transit line from the airport that cost, like a BILLION dollars to build, and there is not ONE PAYPHONE in most of the stations! World class city my ass. 

/end rant (for now) 

not even a remnant of a visage of anything that even echoes any kind of socialism or even humanism remains....  in this technocratic world..

sorry, i'm depressed.

bright side. ... um ..hmm. still thinking..... 

okay,

sometimes it feels reeeeely good to Fart!

I vote for kash to get a cell (heh heh)

ugh. i feel it coming, m.p. something about the 3 (plus chargers) sitting in a closet...all from well-intention friends trying to save me from becoming a luddite

Imagine a drug dealer without a cellphone!!!

The last time I used a pay phone, about a year ago, a drug dealer started trying to sell to me the second I walked up to it. I was like "actually, I'm one of the few people who just wants to use the phone."

The last time I asked where a payphone was, people looked at me so badly I felt ashamed. There are plenty of payphones where I live, but people look down on you when you use them.

I ended up getting a Tracphone just to avoid the stigma. 

I think public pay phones are a necessity for public safety. I could go on and on about it but I'm sure that would be boring and I'm aware that I'm an anomaly. Seriously, everyone I know is like, "who uses a pay phone anyway?"

Fuck me for being unwilling to add another monthly bill to the roster.  

I would agree on the public safety thing. Also, cell towers go down, cells go dead battery, etc.

What I am annoyed about these days is if i want to have an organizer any more, it has to be a "smartphone" and you have to pay a minimum of $150/month for your phone now. I have a very old Nokia cell that I pay $35/month for and while yes, it's "lame" that I can't take pictures with it, I really don't give a crap and I don't look forward to being forced to upgrade. 

Don't even get me started on the cost to the environment:

http://www.rethinkrecycling.com/residents/throw-buy/materials-name/cell-phones

I realize some people need them but it should not be required to exist in the world. UGH

It IS plutonian.

2 weeks after my father died, a friend's father died. We were supposed to bring food to their mother's house; 4 miles from my house. I got lost- the address I had written down with numbers transposed... I tried to find a payphone, i was in a residential area. I really started to panic, knowing people were waiting for me.  Finally i started knocking on doors; NO ONE WAS HOME in any of the houses (around 5pm on  a work week) finally a lady answered the door; she was clearly afraid of ME (a 5'3" woman) and would not open her door all the way; but she did hand me her phone so i could call and let folks know what happened to me and get the right address; i was an HOUR late when i finally got thee.

I bought a cell phone right after that!

It bothers me too! Who likes to be forced to buy into technology?

i'm sorry to hear that, mimitabby. much to my own annoyance i am thinking about activating one, because i don't want to get into a situation where my safety is compromised. getting off public transit and not being able to call a taxi/a friend to pick me up/meet me qualifies.

i just find it so depressing and being the only person i know without a cellphone, well it's alienating because i feel like no one really sees the poverty connection: poor people need public phones. but i live in a city with a dire lack of public toilets, too (another topic) and no one here seems to give a damn.

we're hosting the Olympics next year; I guess the millions who are coming to visit will not need a phone/will be bringing their own? 

Kashmiri, i've been to your beautiful city; and it was the first time i'd ever seen HOW stark the differences in a modern north american city between rich and poor; I mean, across the street and you see people who are incredibly poor!

Even here in Seattle, we have the toilet problem. It's definitely another symptom of the disenfranchisment of the poor.

LIke I said, technocracy. You can hardly  even shit for free any more.

But you can Belch and Fart for no cost. That about it.

Im sorry to be so scatalogical, but it  pisses me off too.

chamroise your farting comments gave me the laugh I was looking for, thanks:)

No farts here tonight but still voting for Kash to phone-up! My blackberry (got it for email access on the go) can't take pictures or download music etc. But when it finally dies, I'll prob have to go high tech. As for poverty in nyc, even the homeless I see have snazzy cell phones and ipods (not kidding folks!).

I think there is a program for homeless people to get cell phones at low or no cost.

I resisted getting a cell phone for the simple reason that I don't want to be at everyone's beck and call (literally) at every moment.  *laughs*  Had to get one finally, though... moved in with my mother and she doesn't have a house phone anymo.  I am supremely annoyed with the lack of payphones, though.  I like a payphone!  Eventually, I may even get one of those old, red English boxes, I've always wanted one.

i was stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a empty tank (three stations in three different spots on the map, in a row, that didn't work or have gas or open roads) and the last spot i stopped the pay phone had a permanent busy signal..

luckily, the gas worked there.  but i had no chance to call the person i was to meet.

and no cell service, out there...

eeeek!!!!!! 

Yeah, I didn't want to get a cell phone because then my mother could call me ANY time she liked. I finally had to cave in when I got into an LDR and had to call him when the train was late (frequently). Yup, she calls a lot. Occasionally the things are useful, but I still tend to do "oops, phone is dead," "oops, I forgot and had the phone off for class and forgot to turn it back on," and "oops, I have no reception at work" (sadly, they gave us nearby cell towers so now I do).

jenfullmoon, that's the other thing...I don't want to be available 24/7. I'm an old fashioned gal, I think...I want to talk on the phone at home, when I have time and feel relaxed.

We didn't even answer the phone during supper. And I was raised that calling someone between 5-6 was rude because that's "when everyone's eating"

(obviously not, but I can see the upshot of this) 

Kash, the only reason I got a cell phone was because I didnt like the thought of being stranded somewhere or in trouble with no phone. Although the number I could call would be the police or AAA, being as I have nobody in a 1000 mile radius who could come to my aid (pity pot )

I mean, that originally was the only reason TO get a cell phone for me. I never answer it unless I feel like it. And well, texting is great! cause you can send a quick message without having to dwell on the phone getting caught up in unnecessary conversation.  "Yeah, I'm okay mom, talk later luvya bye" 

The thing that annoys me most about having a cell phone is my that my mom, the technically illiterate Gemini (HTH does that happen??), will call and not leave a message, then call and leave a message, then call and page me, while I'm at work in the hospital, where I cannot (okay, should not) have my cell on.  All this to tell me to pick her up something to eat when I come home in four hours, or that the cat's outside, or something else completely random.  Plus, she has my direct line -- yanno, the number she can actually reach me at when I'm working?  Pfft!  Silly woman.  *smiles*