Quiet,It Was

Usually it sat quietly on the end table just at the area back of my left elbow. From the corner of my eye, I could use my pheriferal vision to spot it's location. Usually it was quiet, seldom broadcasting it's presence though I always knew it was there should I need it. If I roamed from room to room, another was available in each of those rooms. I don't have a good reason for keeping it. It was a habit.

Yesterday I called the telephone company and had my house phone disconnected. I didn't expect it to be a traumatic affair. It was. It has left me with a feeling of loss. Though I have a cell phone, the house phones resting on tables throughout this house were always there. A fixture has been removed and I miss it. I've had other people tell me the same thing when they decided to go land line less. My friend told me she left her phone plugged in for a few months though there was no service to it and about three months later, she packed her phone away.

I didn't wait. I went from room to room and disconnected them then hauled them to a container for storage. Having a land line appears to be a habit of a certain age group of the population. It was reported lately by a research group, that young couples starting a life together enter that relationship with cell phones, commence to co habitate and never have a land line in their new residences. I decided to give mine up also.

Both the husband and I have our cell phone. Most of the calls we get and place are using these cell phones. I cut the cost of that 60.00 a month on that land line; unplugging 7 phones from their power souce may cut some energy use also. Though it may not be a staggering amount, every little bit helps with the air conditioning unit  that is running all day.

Silliness. Have you heard? The surveys show that the younger population are smoking and the blame can be laid at the doorstep of the convenience stores. Apparently the youngsters see the cigarettes in those stores which leads them to smoking. I'm calling Bullshit on this one! My feelings? Their friends lead them to that cigarette. Peers and parents. I don't know if I can blame it very much on the parents as most teenagers would rather jump off a cliff then emulate their parents at that age. I've often wondered what the tattooed, pierced teen would do if they woke one morning to find their mother in the kitchen sipping on a cup of coffee, a tattooed sleeve on one arm, a kabala symbol artiscally burned into her face; nose, tongue and lip and eyebrow  decorated with rings and spikes with her lovely pink hair spiked around her face. Few teens would think this was kewl. The object is to be "different" from the parent, not a copy. Your friends look kewl smoking, not your parents. Teens will emulate the look of their peers and run screaming from any thing their parents might deem appropriate.

I could be wrong on this. Thankfully a lot is not riding on my opinion. It's just that. My opinion.