Am I becoming a luddite?

I rail on how the internet has given some people an inflated sense of importance.  How they can become kings of their castles, lords of their manors, and queens of their dominions.  Whatever floats your boat and theirs.

Now, I am irritated by cell phones.

Admittedly, I have one and it is my sole piece of equipment derived from Alexander Graham Bell’s invention.  There is no need for me to have more than one.  Why spend the money on a landline?

There are ideas related to the cell phone that irritate me:

1. People should be reachable anytime, anyplace, and anywhere.  No, they shouldn’t.  I remember going to Wrigley Field with my father over 10 years ago.  He hadn’t been back since they had installed lights.  He hadn’t been back since he was a kid.  He said that he remembered spending time with his father (a surgeon at one of the area hospitals).  Most of all, he remembered that his father was rarely unreachable throughout his life.  And, one of the few places that patients and colleagues could not get in touch with him was in the stands at Wrigley.  There is something very comfortable about that.
2. People need to hear back from you right now!  It used to be that we didn’t have email or the internet.  I remember getting letters.  The paper all worn and you slice it open, take it out, and unfold it for a treasured nugget of communication that you knew days before was in the hands of a friend or loved one.  Now it is all kilobytes and instant gratification.  People wait on pins and needles for someone to respond.  People are more impatient and also more lonely, too.
3. We have this illusion that just by having technology we get more done.  Or, perhaps, it is that we are expected to get more done.  Therefore, we cram things into splinters of monents in order to achieve productivity.

All of these things we do with a sacrifice for our own safety and the safety of others.

I was in a car accident today.  Yesterday, actually.  Instantly, after impact, I looked over at the woman in the other car.

She had one hand on the wheel and the other hand was holding her cell phone to her ear.

Enough said.