Hanging Up

After a day’s worth of thought, I am officially deciding to stop talking on my cell phone while driving my car. Honestly, what do I have that is so urgent that it can’t wait until I’m parked? Nothing. We’ve heard the reports about how unsafe it is, how it is distracted driving just like drunk driving, how your response time is slowed…and on and on. The latest study (conducted by the University of Utah, by the way) suggests that drivers talking on their cell phones, hands free and otherwise, also hold up traffic, adding minutes to their (and other people’s!) commute*. Conspiracy by the government to try and scare people into hanging up their phones? Possible. But I am finally on board with the whole concept. I, of course, am the best driver in the world when talking on a cell phone. But inevitably when I am ticked off because of the lack of driving skills of someone else on the road, they are usually yapping away on their phone, not using their brains for driving, and thus making the road a nightmare for others. The decision is made. I’ll keep the phone away from reach for awhile so as not to be tempted. Hopefully this will revolutionize my life. Doubtful, but it’s worth a shot. (Can I retroactively make this a New Year’s resolution?)

And, in case you’re feeling bad about your phone getting turned off because you didn’t pay your phone bill, rest assured that you are not alone. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also failed to pay their phone bill. Of course, by not paying their bill, it opened the possibility of interference to their always popular eavesdropping and surveillance program. I guess you could have that headache to deal with. No thanks.


*Granted, 10% of my commute time is like a minute and a half (only about 6 minutes for those hour commuters). But you add up all those minutes, and I'm telling you...those cell phone talkers are taking away days of my life!