I'll Wait, Not Call

When someone gives me a hard time about not having a cell phone, I have plenty of justification for why I won't become one of the mobile masses. But one of the primary reasons is as simple as what cell phone culture has done to people's attention spans.

I can't always think of an example of this when I'm trying to justify myself to the cell-dedicated, but I heard a perfect example on my walk today. Heading toward the Village on Grace Street, a guy was looking left and right. Finally, he called someone and asked the dumbest question I've heard in a while, "Are you here?"

Apparently the callee confirmed what the caller had already known; he wasn't there yet. "Okay, then I'll go back inside and get a table," caller boy said.

Remember back in the olden days when you were meeting a friend at a restaurant and they weren't there when you arrived? You had a choice to make; you could get a table and wait for them or stand out front and wait for them.

But the issue wasn't so pressing or perplexing that you needed to know immediately in order to decide your course of action. Whether you stood or sat, your friend was likely going to find you once they arrived. And if they never showed, you ate lunch by yourself. But life went on.

Mine still does, but clearly I'm in the minority. Maybe that's my objection to cell phones: they negate the need for patience. And isn't patience worth preserving?

Patience is a virtue.
Possess it if you can.
Seldom found in woman.
Never found in man.

I beg to differ.