I'm trying to remember the last time I heard someone referred to a phone as 'the' phone, as opposed to 'my' phone or 'your' phone or 'his/her' phone. Now that everybody has one in their pocket, 'the' has been replaced by a personal pronoun.
That's a small shame. I liked 'the phone.' Even though telephones, like everything else in the home, were personal property, I think it was neat that they were referred to more as community property. Even people who lived alone would say 'the' phone.
"I'm sorry I missed your call, I couldn't get to the phone in time."
The telephone was a link to the outside world and was treated with respect. I can almost imagine the 'T' capitalized, even in the middle of a sentence. "Please answer The Phone."
Now The Phone is everywhere. It goes where we go. We are the phone and the phone is us. Well, not me. I sometimes turn my phone off and then forget to turn it back on for a day or two. No biggie. I've never yet missed an important call.
See? Having one around all the time, I've lost all respect for The Phone. 10 years ago I never would have dreamed of unplugging my phone for 2 days, just because. Now I turn it off all the time.
Here's a conversation I had not too long ago.
Other Person: (incredulous)You turn your phone off?
Me: Sure.
OP: But what if someone needs to get hold of you?
Me: I have voicemail.
OP: What if it's an emergency?
Me: Like what?
OP: An accident, or somebody in the emergency room or something.
Me: In that case, 911 is a better option. I'm not trained.
She couldn't fathom how I survive with the phone off. How can I cut myself off from Important News that I might need immediately?
I explained, or tried to explain, that I do it the same way everybody did it prior to a few short years ago. If I miss the important news now, I'll hear it later. If not, then it probably wasn't that important in the first place.
And I seriously dislike text messages. They are too intrusive. Questions, comments, opinions, demands on my time can now all be sent without a filter, straight to me. I don't like it.
Calls can be filtered, which I like. I can choose not to answer. Or if I do answer I can somewhat guide the conversation. Before the demanding question can be asked I can help set the tone.
So don't text me.
2 comments:
OK.
Well, I'm highly insulted. You've missed a few calls that I've placed to you. I guess you eventually got them, when I tried again. But no hard feelings. They weren't that important anyway.
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