Should Women have Mobile Phones?

[raphy]

I've not noticed a division btwn the sexes when using mobile phones. Personally, I hate them - I hate people being able to phone me whenever they want.

Turn it off when you don't want people to call you Turn it on when you want to make an outgoing call. It's probably the most antisocial way to own/use a cellphone, but it definitely works.

And Raphy - watch out for those phone masts - they give you cancer (according to my mum).

*shrug* .. If you're going to be drowned, you'll never be hanged.

 

[RenzaJones]

thank god for the new technology that allows for different rings for each programmed number I don't even need to look at the phone to screen my calls

 

[raphy]

thank god for the new technology that allows for different rings for each programmed number I don't even need to look at the phone to screen my calls

I have a friend whose phone plays the Darth Vader Imperial March from Star Wars every time his girlfriend calls him.

 

[RenzaJones]

lol my phone plays brick house when The mrs calls downloaded from the net

 

[Guest]

And folks - please don't use your phone while driving - it's a sure way to kill yourself.

Yep, and more importantly, it's a sure way to kill other people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I have NEVER used my phone while driving, not even using a hands-free device, and I NEVER will do. If it rings while I'm driving, I just ignore it, then return the call when I'm out of the car again.

Thank goodness it is now illegal to use a mobile phone while driving in the UK now. Unfortunately, a lot of people appear to be ignoring this law.

Talking on the phone while driving is as bad as, if not worse than, driving when drunk. Even on a hands-free headset, it is a massive distraction. One little mistake can have massive consequences.

Sorry if that all sounds a bit preachy, but it is a subject that gets me hot under the collar. Admittedly, I'm not a complete angel behind the wheel. My music is always too loud and I often drive too fast, but, in 14 years of driving, I have not once been involved in an accident (touching wood as I type).

Yeah, I know, I just leave them in my wake.

Lou

 

[Xelebes]

'

I thought that, until I finally got one. Communication independance is a wonderful thing. No more relying on public phone boxes for those times when you're out and you remember you wanted to call someone to check.

Long line at the movie theatre? Just whip out your cell phone, call in a credit card order and skip to those auto-dispensing machines.

At the restaurant and you're wondering where your date/wife is? Did they stand you up? Are they in a traffic accident somewhere? Are they simply running late at the office? A quick text message and you can get the answer. It's non-intrusive and if the other person is driving, they can wait until they can find somewhere safe to pull over before answering.

Lost looking for a party in a city you're not familar with? Just call 'em on the cellphone and tell 'em what you can see. Chances are, they'll recognize local landmarks when you can't.

I first got a cell phone when I was looking to change jobs in 1997. I got tired of employment agencies asking me if I had one so that I could be reached by prospective employers at any time of the day. So I got one and it made communicating much easier.

No, I don't *need* a cell phone, and yes, I lived 23 years of my life without one, but like all the other little life's luxuries, it definitely makes some things easier.

Those situations have never arised for me, lol.

 

[raphy]

Those situations have never arised for me, lol.

You've never ever in your entire life wanted to make a telephone call when you weren't near a telephone?

Wow.

p.s. The last time whisp and I used our cellphone was outside a friend's house. We'd gone to meet her, but she hadn't turned up and we called our house and checked our answering machine remotely to see if she'd left a message while we were out changing the time of our meeting and missed us.

No, it wasn't a *necessary* call, per se. But it was an hour drive each way, and it saved us a LOT of time and gas.

 

[Xelebes]

You've never ever in your entire life wanted to make a telephone call when you weren't near a telephone?

Wow.

p.s. The last time whisp and I used our cellphone was outside a friend's house. We'd gone to meet her, but she hadn't turned up and we called our house and checked our answering machine remotely to see if she'd left a message while we were out changing the time of our meeting and missed us.

No, it wasn't a *necessary* call, per se. But it was an hour drive each way, and it saved us a LOT of time and gas.

To tell you the truth I try to avoid using phones as much as possible. I'm not comfortable with phones in general. Headphones are differnet though.

*sna-huggles his headphones*

Buying new ones soon... the ones in the 200 dollar range.

 

[SnoopDog]

I hate to go against what you said there, Snoopy, but my phone has got all of that and much more. It's a G3 phone and has, GPS, MP3 player, two digicams, a video recorder, videocall capability, UBS, Bluetooth and everything else you mentioned. It's my new toy and I love it.

I also go against what Neon said about women using mobiles in his first post. The majority of the time, I use my mobile in the privacy of my own bedroom.

Lou - techno geek.

So...you're a guy then ?

Snoopy,

 

[raphy]

To tell you the truth I try to avoid using phones as much as possible. I'm not comfortable with phones in general.

Aaah, well that puts a whole new spin on things. If you don't find much of a use for a regular telephone, then you're unlikely to find much of a use for a mobile one. Me, I like communication.

Even if I'm going to the movies with a friend, I'll call on the way down, just to make sure they're 100% sure about the time and suchlike. I hate wasting time over mis-communication when a simple telephone call can make sure everyone's on the same page.

 

[Dirt Man]

The ultimate answer to the question is no. No for women, and no for men. Becoming the slave of the phone company is just rediculous. If I leave home to get away from things why would I want the phone to go with me so that everything I'm trying to get away from knows where I can be reached? I mean I just don't get it folks. Hell, I don't even answer the phone in my house, why would I carry one that everyone knows I have to answer. I mean you can't say that you left it behind because no one will believe you. It costs too much to leave behind. LOL

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

 

[Mhari]

I don't answer my phone at home, and I don't answer my cell phone, either. It drives my family bonkers. But I figure that's what I have an answering machine and voice mail for.

As for who should be allowed to have cell phones... Don't be sexist about it. Everyone loses focus when they use a phone, male and female. And as someone has already pointed out, it seems to be the men who are the worst offenders when it comes to driving and phoning. Loulou has that whole bit about driving and phoning absolutely right.

~M

 

[Shock Chick]

So...you're a guy then ?

Snoopy,

Yeah, you should see the balls on her!

SC

P.S. From Lou:

 

[SnoopDog]

Yeah, you should see the balls on her!

SC

P.S. From Lou:

What, Lou's psyche out and on the run ???
God help us.

Snoopy

 

[raphy]

Maybe I'm just weird. I always answer the phone, both the landline and the cellphone. Always have done, always will. When I first moved here, whisper used to let the answering machine pick up all the time too - I cured her of that habit


As for always having to answer a cellphone, that's why they make them with silent alerts. I don't turn my cellphone off in a movie theatre, I put it on silent alert. That way, if anyone has tried to call me and I can't answer because I'm in the movie theatre, I'll get their missed call number on the display when I come out, and I can call them right back.

 

[Guest]

What, Lou's psyche out and on the run ???
God help us.

Snoopy

How do you think I feel when that happens?

Lou

 

[SnoopDog]

How do you think I feel when that happens?

Lou

I'd say you feel ....... ehm.....hmmhhmmm.... awesome ???
Lol.

Snoopy

 

[Guest]

I'd say you feel ....... ehm.....hmmhhmmm.... awesome ???
Lol.

Snoopy

Nah, more like: bleedin' marvellous!

Lou

 

[shereads]

I don't answer my phone at home, and I don't answer my cell phone, either. It drives my family bonkers.

Really? Me too. I don't check my answering machine messages either anymore, often for weeks at a time.

I think it's a phase I'm going through.

It began when i got the cell phone, for work and emergencies. Yes, it's convenient. But you lose the right to be unreachable.

So I've given myself that right. As Miss Manners, a newspaper columnist once said, your telephone is your property and you have every right not to answer it.

 

[Guest]

So I've given myself that right. As Miss Manners, a newspaper columnist once said, your telephone is your property and you have every right not to answer it.

Yes, and you also have every right to hang up on some rude bitch who calls you out of the blue, claiming you owe them money (I paid this particular bill off SEVEN years ago, and can prove it, but they won't correspond via the mail and give me an address to send them the proof. They keep phoning me up, harrassing me - and legally it is harrassment, of which I have informed them).

I told her what she could do with her snotty attitude and slammed the phone down.

I just had one such phone call, and my blood is boiling.

*calm thoughts*

Lou

 

[shereads]

I just had one such phone call, and my blood is boiling.

*calm thoughts*

Lou

With one of the newer cell phones, you could have activated the Offensive Call Defensive Weapons feature.

 

[Guest]

With one of the newer cell phones, you could have activated the Offensive Call Defensive Weapons feature.

LOL!

And, yeah, if she'd called my mobile, I'm sure I could've found a way to addle her brain somehow. Unfortunately (for me) she called the landline.

Lou

 

[Madame Manga]

I also hate telephones. My husband got me a mobile phone about two years ago. I have used it perhaps a couple of dozen times, and it's usually off or out of juice. I can't program it worth a darn--the manual is half an inch thick, printed on thin paper, and I will not waste several precious hours of my life learning how to deal with a gadget I don't even like to use. I am the same way with office phone systems. I have a mental block against learning the codes and procedures. If someone calls me by accident and wants to be transferred to the right line, I tell them to hang up and try again, because any button I punch will probably disconnect them anyway.

However, I have to answer my home line--a year or two ago, it was almost always the school calling to tell me my son had been sent to the principal's office again, and would I come pick him up? These days it's generally my mother, but occasionally it's a client (I do commissioned portraits). A necessary evil in either case.

I would much prefer to deal with everyone in the world via email. I am not at my best in real-time audio conversation, face to face or otherwise. There is nothing I dislike more about phones than calls from people who just want to "chat". Even when it's a loved one on the other end, if there isn't some sort of vital information to be conveyed I cannot wait to get off the line.

MM

 

[Mhari]

So I've given myself that right. As Miss Manners, a newspaper columnist once said, your telephone is your property and you have every right not to answer it.

My sentiments exactly. There are a lot of times when I don't want to disturb my train of thought (grading papers, writing, etc) and times when it just isn't convenient for me to jump up and answer the phone even though I'm at home. And times when, frankly, I don't feel like talking to anyone. So if someone wants to speak with me, my machine is right there for them to let me know.

My telephone, my prerogative.

~M

 

[sweetnpetite]

I can't stand still while I'm on the phone- any phone. If I'm at home, I pace like a cat. I don't have a cell phone, but I don't know why it would be any different.

When a woman uses a mobile, she uses it in one of two ways whilst undertaking the same conversation. When she is listening, she has to stand still, impervious to everything around her and generally in the most awkward place possible, like a doorway or next to a shopping trolley completely blocking the aisle. Her other mode is an attempt to prove 'Gerald Ford's First Law of Motion' as she talks, she kind of suffles forward, halts, shuffles again, turns sideways, turns back and takes another step. Whilst this is happening, someone has generally rammed a shopping trolley into my ankles.

NL