Tuesday, January 11, 2011

What would your life look like without a landline phone?

As a 40-something (really almost 50, but who’s counting) gal in the big city, do I really need a landline phone? 
This is a new measure of the generation gap for me. 
Do you have a landline phone? 
If you are over 45, you are probably going to say yes.  If you are 40 to 45, you might have one, especially if you have kids.  But my totally unofficial poll (here at Community Partners of Dallas with our staff) says that if you are under 40, you don’t have a landline phone.
So for those young at heart gals/guys who may be considering a switch, here are my questions/thoughts:
  1. I find it difficult to hold my cell phone between my ear and shoulder, so how do I cook, work from home on computer, etc.?  Keep in mind that I hate it when people use a speakerphone, so I don’t want to use the one on the cell unless absolutely necessary.
  2. Joanna says that she doesn’t really like having a long conversation on her cell phone because the cell is harder to hold for an extended period.  Is this true? 
  3. Do you just give out your cell number to the world?  So when you buy a single bottle of nail polish on the internet (Yes, I did this last week.  It is Rachel Zoe’s favorite color – can’t wait for it to arrive!) and they make you give a phone number, is the cell number okay with you?  I always put my home number in this box.
  4. What about an emergency in the night?  I always turn off my cell ringer when I go to bed (actually those of you who know me well know that I almost never turn on the cell ringer – a constant battle of words with my family who expect me to be at their beck and call at all times).  Do you bring the phone into the bedroom at night to plug it in?
  5. Solicitation calls – do you get them on your cell?  I would really hate that.  By the way, who is really answering sales calls any more?  On my landline I have Caller ID, so I never answer them.  On the cell it doesn’t tell me who is calling, just the phone number.  I would really hate that, people.
Please let me know what you think.  And don’t call – I won’t answer.

3 comments:

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  2. Paige, I would never get rid of my landline. I know, I'm over 40, so I fall in the "fuddie duddie" category, but honestly, as much as I would like to, I have issue with letting it go.

    First of all, I have the worst service in my home office for my cell. Besides that, I'm with you: it's not shaped for my ear even though I do use the speaker option (I was like you, but decided to "get over it" so I can drive with both hands). What if I leave my phone in my car? What if it's dead and lost somewhere (I realize this has probably never happened to you!) Here's the real kicker, after church no one can reach me on Monday because I forgot to take it off silent, and after going to a movie I have the same problem - I slept through my alarm (like this morning). Another added benefit is that I like to use the options that my landline has, you know, those ones you may not know about?? I have a voice reminder call to take the dogs for a walk, and a voice reminder call for any doctor's appointments I may have, because, even though I have it on my Blackberry, that doesn't mean I know where my Blackberry is. Besides, how can I talk on the phone and text at the same time? I know people under 40 can do that and google at the same time, but for me I still can't do more than two things at once.

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