According to the Federal Communications Commission, more than 61 percent of 18-to 24-year-olds use cell phones, and that can definitely be seen everywhere at OSU - streets, sidewalks, commons and classes. Professors hate them; students love them. And no matter how fast you ride or how well you hide, you just can't get away from them.
Let's just get this out into the open now before confusion arises, yes, I do own a cell phone; yes, it has gone off once - just once -during a political science lecture; and yes, I do carry it around with me in case someone needs to contact me in an emergency- or just wants to know if I want to go eat.
I enjoy my cell phone in moderation, and I like knowing that if I ever find myself in a scary or potentially dangerous situation, I have a way of getting help. But I think, as a whole, society has a problem - we have a cell-phone addiction.
I have an 8:30 a.m. class every day, and typically I roll out of bed, put on the closest pair of shoes I can find and head out. I am such a horrible morning person that I pity those people who have to look at me, much less have a conversation with me.
As I make my way across the Oval on semi-autopilot, I can't help but notice the massive number of students gabbing away on their cell phones. Chatty students are common for the Oval at all times of the day, but at 8:05 in the morning? What can they possibly have to say to the person on the other end? At that time of day I don't think that I can process words, much less have an intelligent - or at least intelligible - conversation on my cell phone.
I have walked behind a cell phone user for the duration of my way-too-early and way-too-long trip, and I must say that her conversation with her boyfriend didn't really amount to much. I mean at that time of the day, what can she possibly have to tell him - what a great sleep she had while dreaming of him?
Some of you don't have the privilege of having an 8:30 a.m. every day like I do, and subsequently may not see those early-morning Oval talkers, but I'm sure you've all been in a class where someone's cell phone has rung, and rung and rung - one of my biggest pet-peeves.
I'll be sitting in class, and I'll be in the zone. I'll be taking notes at an alarming rate, completely engrossed in the lecture - it rarely happens, but there is that special occasion - and then all of a sudden, from a far-off distance, I hear "Play that Funky Music" resonating off the auditorium walls, and I'm out of the zone - forever.
Not only is that rude to the professor, who gets frustrated when he is teaching and has to think up a witty comment about who might be on the other end of the call, but it's also rude to the students who are trying hard to pay attention - or not fall asleep - and who paid good money to be there.
And we've all been in class where a cell phone goes off, and from the back row you can hear "Hey man... no, I'm in class... yeah, I'll just talk to you later." If your phone goes off in class, just gracefully and quickly take care of the situation; but no matter what, do not answer it. The phone call cannot be that important.
We are a society with a cell phone addiction. We are a society that needs confirmation. We need to have constant reminders - in the shapes of cell phones - that our friends still like us and that our boyfriend or girlfriends still love us. I think that some people purposely leave their phones on during class; they long to hear that little ringer and know that someone somewhere loves them.
Well, you know what? Turn your phone off or even leave it at home for a day. Your friends will still love you, your significant other won't dump you, the world will keep spinning and you might actually learn that there is more to life than a stupid flip phone. Am I making sense? Can you hear me now? Good.
Laura Corry is a freshman in journalism. She can be reached for comment at corry.8@osu.edu.
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