Cell phone nation is the place where I live.
Is cell phone nation metro-Detroit? Is it the Mid-West? Is it the entire world? I don't really know, but it's around me and it's obnoxious. Cell phone nation is this: when I am out on my daily bike ride, which inevitably goes right through the heart of suburbia, stopped a light, if I look at the peoples driving in their cars, probably half of them are on their cell phones. Then, when I go to accelerate beyond the traffic light after it has turned green, invariably some idiot will cut me off, and, invariably he or she is on a cell phone. I don't think of it as a major hazard because I am used to it, but still, it's like one of those annoying things that doesn't go away.
And I don't know how they do it. When I am driving It's really hard for me to talk on a cell phone. A conversation with me when I'm driving sounds something like this: "Yeah, and... that's what they say... well, in actuality... you know?" Because every time I have to merge or do something remotely technical I have to break off conversation (even if I'm not on a phone) just to ensure that I am focused enough on driving to not smash into something like another car, curb, small cat, or bike rider. This must be how so many people can come so close to hitting me all the time, amongst other things they may crash in to.
Needless to say, I don't have a cell phone anymore, though not necessarily because of said incidences. I just don't have a vast enough social network to make it monetarily feasible. And I figure those who know me, who need to talk to me, they know where I am and they know how to reach me. However, I think if you were to take away the nation's cell phones, people would go fucking crazy, almost as crazy as they would go if you took away all the electricity, even if for a short period of time. Why? In part, I think, is because people think they need them (and all their ridiculous features) beyond practical reasons, such as calling for help when your car breaks down, and things of this nature. The reason for this might lay within in the media. Take this picture for example:
Even though I didn't take it, here is your promised picture.It is a clear representation of how contemporary culture, notably teenagers and people in their early to mid twenties, uses the cell phone as a symbol of status to attract those of the opposite sex. Interestingly enough, when I did an altavista.com image search for "cell phone" this was the first one archived. However, it didn't take this picture for me to become aware of this. I've known this for some time, as I am quite the keen observer. I see it every day and laugh because they don't (see it.) As far as I am concerned, when I see a particularly attractive women, but then I see that she is on a cell phone, she is instantly removed from my list of "candidates" even though she wouldn't care anyway, but only because she doesn't get it in the first place. To me, that cell phone is a sign of a lack of independence, which I find (independence) as a desirable characteristic, not only amongst girls, but amongst all people of the world.
But before I go too far, if I haven't already, this is what is cell phone nation. So every time someone does something stupid (like almost hit you with their car while you're riding your bike, which has probably happened if you're reading this blog) because they are on a cell phone I think, and you might now think: "There it is again, it's cell phone nation at it's best. It's the place where I live."
In other news, I could not finish building my bike because when my fork came back from QBP for it's rebuild, the dust wipers were installed incorrectly, which I am guessing is because the guy who did the rebuild was on his cell phone talking to his girlfriend.
