-What Am I In Your Phone?

What is it about getting a phone call that can send us into a frenzy of action and anxiousness? Who could be calling me? What could they want? Was I expecting a call? Am I late for something? Has something happened? Does somebody need me? It’s hard to put the cellular sensation that flows through our personal antennae when we get a call onto paper, I guess if it could be written down we would all still send each other letters. Since post is so very post, the era of the phone is here to stay. There is a reason that the President has about four phones on his desk, it makes him look better. Phones are a big part of looking bigger then you are. Batman had the BatPhone, Ethan Hunt had the exploding phone, and I, well, I want the iPhone. The feeling of receiving a call is similar to hearing those three little words, no not those ones, the other three little words. You’ve got mail! With just those words, a person can feel needed and included. The same applies when seeing that someone has posted on your wall or spent the time to slap a bumper sticker on your page. Granted, the later options could have been done out of pure boredom, which is why receiving a call can be so much more satisfying. Calling someone is a premeditated action, it’s thought out and the most efficient way to reach them. Getting a call and answering a phone makes you seem wanted, important and a little sexy. The obsession starts young; when we are given PlaySkool phones to pretend that we are busy spelling the word “dog” and that we only have a minute to talk. Even if our vocabulary was limited we still didn’t have time to use it all. Then it progresses to who gets to answer the house phone, many a time did I get trammeled in that ringtone rat race. Finally, when the Earth has spun around enough times, we all get our very own cell phone. Now we can pay people absurd amounts of money while all we do is perform a function even parrots can do; Paulie wanna pay my phone bill? But, pay we do, because without the phone the universe would cease to exist and not even free food from the Grand Lux Cafe could make it better.
As much as we all complain about texting charges, getting calls at inappropriate times and having to reset the alarm clock function; none of us would actually want to relinquish our right to bear phones. It is so much more then a device, a fashion accessory or a way to distract ourselves during Ancient World History; our cell phones have become our way of staying together. With a lot of the people we love the most miles and states away, at different colleges, different jobs, and different places in life, we need our phones to keep us connected with them. A lost call might as well be losing a friend. A signal breaking up, could be the breaking up of two people. Since we are no longer able to be in each others zones in person, we rely on our phones to be in the zone and connect us to them. I could suffer through not having internet, not being within walking distance of a Starbucks, or being banned from H&M, but the second the U.S Cellular satellites fall from the sky is the second something wicked this way comes.
Glamour and novelity aside, phones are important to us because they do more then combine cameras and MP3 players into one slim package; they keep us close to the people who are most dear to us. It’s not always about answering to talk, sometimes its important to get the call and just listen. To hear what your best friends fashion faux pas inclined professor had on this morning. To know what happened to your older brother on his first date post nasty break up. To help your mother understand why it is a big deal that Meredith is finally choosing to stay with Derek. To sort through the rubble of your sisters decision making skills. To wish your favorite cousin happy birthday. To explain to your dad why getting a 75 percent is the new 95 percent.
So whether you rock the Juke, carry the KRZR, have a Chocolate in your pocket, slice with the RAZR, talk on a Blackberry or hold an Envy; the main point is, pick up the phone, listen to what they have to say, and stay connected.