Mixed Blessings
.... In addition to pay phones on city streets, there are mobile phones on the freeway. They are conveniently located about a mile a part from each other on most highways. But of course, I did have to watch for my safety. Nonetheless, I felt relatively safe driving alone late at night. Then the day came when my girlfriend had an “awesome birthday gift” for me. Her and her daughter could not wait to give it to me. She claimed so “I can get a hold of you and not worry about you. Especially because you live alone.” Should I be concerned about my safety I wondered? After all, many people live alone. Just because I may not always be locatable at any given moment, does not mean something horrible has happened to me. In any case, I reluctantly took my birthday gift. I truly was excited about having received the cell phone as a gift, but I was not looking forward to the newly acquired monthly expense. However, my monthly added expense was soon forgotten after my very first phone call. My whole perspective about the scenarios which I once considered as not great inconveniences are now considered very great inconveniences. Now I say, there are many conveniences, way too many to list, for owning a cell phone. Some for which I consider to be very crucial. For example, I can find out my bank balance at any given moment especially before making that desirable purchase. Or when my cousin called the exact moment when he and his wife had their first born. This great news was delivered to me sooner than if I had waited to arrive home to find the message on my answering machine. Or when I can call my boyfriend at any given moment from wherever I am at just to say “I love you”. I also am comforted with having a cell phone when I am driving alone at night. Most importantly, a cell phone is very convenient for those unforeseeable emergencies, such as, a car accident. Now I am not only reassured, I am also very pleased about owning a cell phone because I can convey any kind of information at any given moment from wherever I am to whomever I choose. Who would not delight in the cell phone’s abundant conveniences? Cell phones however have not only added conveniences to my life; they also include inconveniences that impose distractions in many public places. Take for example, when people converse on their cell phone while in a movie theater. I remember once when I was forced to listen to another’s conversation while I tried to enjoy a movie. In fact, the person held several conversations as if she were sitting in the comforts of her home. I guess she must have left her consideration for others at the entrance of the movie theater. I thought it was very rude and distracting not only for me but for other’s who had come to watch the movie too. In fact, in a survey conducted by a nonprofit research house, Public Agenda concluded that half the surveyors were annoyed by cell phone conversations (Fitzgerald). Another time I felt a cell phone user was being inconsiderate was when I had taken a tour at a museum. There was a group of us following the speaker when we were interrupted by another’s cell phone. Rather than turning off the ringer, the person carried on a conversation as we all continued on the tour. I not only heard the speaker talk about the showcases, for ten minutes, I was forced to hear about the lady who forgot to turn off the lights in her mom’s car garage. Another cell phone distraction imposed in a public place is the consistent ringing or alerts while in a classroom. Nothing is more distracting than when a student’s cell phone rings while an instructor conducts a lecture. After all, the ringing does cause a distraction that interrupts the instructor’s teaching as well as the students’ concentration on the lecture at hand. Not only is the concentration broken, the whole class literally stops to wait for the student to turn off the cell phone. For the respect of other students as well as the instructor, would it not make sense to just turn off the ringer before entering class? After all, the instructor is there to teach and we are there to learn. Perhaps cell phone usages should be implemented into the school policy of conduct for the respect of other students as well as for the respect of the faculty. One such public place where rules forbid cell phone usage is in the hospitals. The forbiddance of cell phone usage is not a result of misconduct in a public place but because cell phone usage in a hospital can cause life-threatening repercussions. Especially when using the cell phone near electronic medical devices, such as, a mechanical ventilator. In a study published by Mayo Clinic Proceedings where 526 tests were conducted using 17 wireless phones, the clinic found cell phone usage caused the ventilator to turn off and then turn back on (Wrolstad). Imagine the serious implications a cell phone can cause to a breathing apparatus that is being used by a patient whose life depends on it. Though signs of prohibiting the use of cell phones are posted through out the hospital as a precautionary, cell phone usag...