From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...: Fake Cell Phone Calls Are Now Widespread

� Of Fabulists And Seal Hunts | Main | More Politician Bloggers; From Wisconsin To England �

Fake Cell Phone Calls Are Now Widespread

April 18, 2005

I've wondered here before if our infatuation with cocooning personal technologies might not presage mental illness. Now, I'm wondering again. Apparently, there are more reasons than I knew for engaging in fake cell phone calls, all of them bewildering.

From the above-linked NYT story:

* Blame-shifting for social gaffes such as holding up a check-out line;

* to "avoid contact, whether with neighbors or panhandlers, co-workers or supervisors, Greenpeace canvassers or Girl Scouts;"

* to avoid looking lonely, or keep up with cell-phone chattering peers;

* (women) to avoid unwanted approaches from men;

* (men) to impress women;

* (for camera cellphone shutterbugs) "to get a good angle without looking suspicious;"

* to cover up being late to work (as in, "I was on an important call").

Myself, I don't have a cell phone. Business gets taken care of just fine. And I prefer to look Greenpeace activists, Girl Scouts and panhandlers in the eye, and say to them whatever needs saying. I don't have a problem with "No."

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at April 18, 2005 07:59 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.rosenblog.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/811

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Fake Cell Phone Calls Are Now Widespread:

� Nokia 8800 Mobile Phone from Nokia 8800 Mobile Phone
Nokia 8800 Mobile Phone [Read More]

Tracked on August 17, 2005 08:15 AM

� Nokia 6230 from Nokia 6230
One of the best Nokia Mobile Phone Model - Nokia 6230 [Read More]

Tracked on August 22, 2005 04:27 AM

� Nokia 9300 Communicator from Nokia 9300 Communicator
Nokia 9300 Communicator - one of the best Nokia Communicator model! [Read More]

Tracked on September 5, 2005 04:08 AM

� Nokia 6680 Mobile Phone from Nokia 6680 Mobile Phone
The Nokia 6680 is the latest 3G effort by Nokia. The 6680 is armed with dual cameras: a 1.3 megapixel camera on the back, and a VGA camera up front. It is a Dual Mode phone, featuring UMTS and tri-band GSM operation (900/1800/1900MHz). [Read More]

Tracked on September 6, 2005 01:24 AM

Comments:

If you think fake cell phone calls are bad, try fake e-mails over a blackberry. Some people are known to type Tolstoy length novels into their blackberry, no nobody in particular, in order to look occupied.

Posted by: DeadManVoting (aka Iguana) at April 18, 2005 10:03 AM

Gawd.....I know that happens, but it's SO sad.......

I admire people I see sitting on a bench looking at the water and mountains......

I admire...people who know how to breathe slowly

Posted by: Matt Rosenberg at April 18, 2005 03:37 PM

A few years ago, I read that, in Britain, you could buy a fake cell phone. Who bought them? Young men who hoped to impress young women in bars. And, if I recall correctly, it worked, at least a little bit.

Posted by: Jim Miller at April 19, 2005 06:30 AM

Post a comment