Of Cell Phones and Toilets

Do you remember a time - long, long ago - when there were no cell phones? When, in order to use a telephone, you actually lifted a receiver that was connected to a base unit with a wire, then dialed a number?

In fact, when was the last time you actually dialed a number, as opposed to poking it into a keypad?

Do you remember a time when you took pictures with a camera, surfed the web from a desktop PC, and detonated bombs the old-fashioned way?

Yes, Dear Readers, people not much younger than I will scarcely remember a time when we didn't have portable, or cellular phones. We have been freed from the wires that limited us to a short radius of distance from the telephone base unit. We can roam wherever we like, having the most personal of conversations no matter where we are and who else may be listening. As long as there are enough bars*, you can talk to anyone, anywhere, at any time, about any subject, no matter how inappropriate or personal**.

Cell phones are everywhere. You can't escape.

In fact, according to this article I read last month in Time Magazine, more people in the world have cell phones than toilets. Consider this quote from the article ...

"Out of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones. Far fewer — only 4.5 billion people — have access to working toilets. Of the 2.5 billion who don’t have proper sanitation, 1.1 billion defecate in the open, according to the study."

Well, those who have cell phones also frequently defecate in the open, just verbally.

I end this discourse with a message from your uncle:

Do it now. The rest of us will thank you.

Have a good day. Quietly. And come back for Cartoon Saturday.

Bilbo

* Speaking of bars, I think I could use one.

** I believe I've shared with you the very loud conversation I once overheard in Washington National Airport (I refuse to call it Reagan National Airport), in which an angry fellow was berating the person on the other end of the line for not getting him the desired appointment ... with his proctologist. Way more information than we all needed.