In the old time I remember every family only had one phone in the whole house. Every body had the same phone. The phone was black with a handle sitting on the top; when you picked it up, it was very heavy and steady. The front of the phone had a big circle with ten small circles around the edge; each circle was about the size of a penny just big enough to fit a finger tip in it. Each small circle represented a number, from 0 to 9. When we made a phone call, we would dial the number by putting our finger in each small hole. For example, if the number was 5, we would put a finger in circle 5 then dial it clock wise until it stopped turning and then release the dial to let it turn back to the normal position, then dial the next number.
Back then, a phone call was only for an emergency or an important matter. There was hardly any phone that rang every day. Everyone focused on their daily life works. Men focused on their jobs, women focused on house cleaning, cooking and washing clothes, and children focused on their school work. When they finished their daily work, they gathered with the neighbors in their yard talking or would go to a friend’s place to visit. Without using a phone to connect to each other, people were close-we knew our neighbors and our neighbors knew us.
Today, each person owns their own personal cell phone, its size getting smaller than our palm, with multiple functions for more than just making a phone call. Most phones can also function as an MP3 player; you can type text messages, access the internet, take digital pictures, play games, and watch videos. People who own cell phones range from children all the way up to the elderly. Phones are no longer used only for emergencies or important matters; people rely on them so much that it causes a lot of problems such as making people busier, making them less considerate of each other, and making them more isolated from society.
Cell phones are supposed to give us more free time but instead make us busier than ever. We used to spend a lot of time to write a letter to a long distance loved one or to a friend. To find those perfect words that express our feelings to a person is actually very difficult. Sometimes we end up putting down a substitute word that a person receiving the letter may misunderstand. And once the letter is complete, we need to travel to the post office and wait in line to buy a stamp to send the letter out. Back in old times, I heard people say that they had to stop their work to write an important letter because the phone bill back than was very expensive. They wished they could shorten this process and have more free time to do other things. Or a student in college was busy with their studies and wished they could just simply call their parents to let them know they are doing fine rather than writing a letter. With today’s technology and the price for unlimited air time, our wishes have come true; people no longer have to write to each other. Instead, they just simply pick up their phone and speak with whomever they want; within a few seconds people are connected to each other.
It seems to be working out great for every one of us, but it is actually making things worse. We see people around us talking on the phone more frequently and for longer periods of time. Everyone’s social circle gets bigger until 24 hours a day is just not enough anymore and we find ourselves trying to do two or perhaps three things at the same time while we talk on the phone. I used to have a friend who talked on the phone while cooking dinner, doing laundry and supervising her children doing homework at the same time. When I would go to visit her, I would sit on the sofa for more than an hour to wait for her to finish 3 or 4 phone calls before she was actually free to talk to me. Sometimes our conversation didn’t last more than five minutes and she would get another phone call. I am no longer friends with her since she does not have the time to keep up our relationship. She has too many friends and works so she no longer has enough time to maintain them.
Although a phone call can help us to maintain a long distant relationship, it’s breaking our bonds within our local communities. I remember when I was a child, I knew all my neighbors so when there was a stranger or a visitor who came into our neighborhood, everybody was aware. It provided safety to our neighborhood and it was okay for us to play and run around because it was safe. Today, most people don’t know who their neighbors are and who lives next to them. “A widely-reported 2006 study argued that since 1985 Americans have become more socially isolated…in particular, found that Americans have fewer close ties to those from their neighborhoods and from voluntary associations…such as the internet and mobile phones, may play a role in advancing this trend. Specifically, they argue that the types of social ties supported by these technologies are relatively week and geographically dispersed, not strong…” (“Social Isolation and New Technology”) Today, because of the convenience of cell phones, we have more friends than our parents did before, but these friends cannot discuss important matters or give us any help and advice in our life. I never saw my mom or dad spend time talking on the phone about where they were going to hang out with their friends, or guessing who was doing what or who was cheating on their relationship. Only when they had a certain problem would they talk on the phone with their close friends or brothers and sisters to discuss a solution or ask for help. But it is very difficult for us today to have the same quality relationships as our parents had back in old times. When most friends call each other, they don’t want to hear your problems anymore even if you are asking for help. I’m aware that when I try to engage in deeper conversations, they tend to avoid it and turn the subject to something else. But if I turn the conversation to ask about that person’s date or how was movie she saw last week, immediately that person can go on and on non-stop to talk about it over fifteen to twenty minutes, until I tell her I have to go.
Ever since cell phones became so popular in our daily life, people seem to have become very self centered and have less respect for others. When I commute on the bus to work everyday, there is never one time I can find a quiet moment around me. Often, there about five cell phone conversations going on at the same time. They are not just speaking English, but also Spanish, Indian, Korean, Russian, and they are almost screaming especially when they can not hear each other very well. I overhear all kinds of conversations on the bus: some of them are fighting, some of them are talking about business, and some of them are love talking. People give them an angry look when they talk so loud, but it doesn’t affect their conversations. They are living in their own world; they don’t consider anybody around them. So what if your friend is breaking up with his girl friend, so what if you owe your credit card company a thousand dollars, and so what if you need to cancel your doctor’s appointment. Do I need to hear all this? No. But I get forced to listen and collect all this air garbage even if I don’t want to. Finally, I started to wear headphones to block the noise but sometimes they are talking even louder than my music. Every time I get off the bus, I am even more tired than after working a whole day.
The cell phone today doesn’t simplify our life; it actually makes our life more complicated. Seven years ago, I realized that by talking on the phone with my friends so much, I actually felt I was getting dumber due to the unnecessary conversation. In the back of my mind I started to picture that old black phone my parents had and how simple and peaceful my life was. I decided to try to change my life style back like the old times, and not talk on my cell phone unless it is necessary or an emergency. Today, none of my friends calls me on my cell phone anymore. I only write them an e-mail and only send emails once every a few months to say a warm “hello” unless something happens, then we will write each other more often. The cell phone for me is just simply for emergencies and important matters like having my sons’ school teacher to contact me. My life is simple and peaceful now. I truly believe that sometimes the convenience of a cell phone does not improve our quality of life, it just makes it worse.
Works Cited
“Social Isolation and New Technology.” Pewresearch.org. Pew Research Center
Publications, 4 Nov. 2009. Web. 26 April 2010.
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