The New Rude

I don't own a cell phone.  That's right.  You've read that correctly.  No cellphone.  I neither want nor need one.  I've never felt the urge to rush out and get one, just as I never felt driven to get my driver's license. (I don't drive, either.  But that's another story. And yes, the pun was intended.)
It's not that I flatly refuse to ever get a cell phone, but why should I if I don't have the need?  If I had a job that required it, and many jobs do these days, of course I would.  But I don't.  And I don't have children or aging parents to consider.  I've heard those reasons for carrying cell phones, and I get that.  But once again, they don't apply to me.

And yet I don't want to feel as if I'm out of date and out of touch.  Left behind.  A dinosaur.  But sometimes it's hard not to feel that way when I'm constantly reminded that I'm one of the few people I know of any age who doesn't own a cellphone.
There have been a couple of times I could have used one, like being stuck at a gas station/bus stop in the middle of nowhere wondering if and when the bus is coming.  A cellphone can be very convenient, especially when travelling.  But for the few times I would like to have had access to a cellphone, the trouble of remembering to keep one on my person at all times wouldn't be worth it.
I have cogent reasons for keeping my land line (remember those?) and staying clear of cell phones forever.  I don't want to be uber-attached to another "thing."  I've observed that many people spend a lot of time with their heads buried in their phones, completely oblivious to their surroundings.  Cell phones are supposed to keep people more connected and in touch.  Maybe cell-phoners are in touch with faceless, disembodied voices, but they also seem to be completely unaware, and often dangerously so, about what's going on all around them and in plain sight.  Just how connected is that?

And maybe it's just me, but I get very annoyed and even personally offended when someone sitting next to me at lunch in the staff room answers their phone without so much as an "excuse me," and then starts broadcasting the banal details of what they're planning to do after work more loudly than the people who are trying to have a conversation at the table.  People speaking on cell phones act as if they're the centre of the universe.  Anyone within their visible range suddenly disappears in favour of the precious device they hold in their hands.  I call it the new rude.
The new rude is bad enough, but what baffles me even more me is why all these cell-phoners don't seem to mind that other people, friends and strangers alike, can hear them talk about their personal lives.  Don't people have any sense of privacy anymore?  Whatever happened to boundaries?  It's truly ironic that by being forced to hear other people's supposedly private conversations, I feel as if my privacy's invaded.
Another reason I don't think I'll be getting a cell phone any time soon is that's it's just another thing to worry about losing, like keys or an umbrella, except that losing a cell phone seems to be much, much worse and results in far more serious consequences to one's physical and mental health.  In fact, there's even a name for it.  Fear of losing or being without the use of one's cellphone  is called nomophobia. (a conflation of no + mobile phone + phobia.)  That's at least one thing I enjoy about cellphone culture - as a result of a phobia that's prevalent among younger cell-phoners, mostly the millennial generation, a cool new word has been added to the English lexicon.  I'm all about words, and nomophobia is a fabulous new one that I love using whenever the opportunity arises, which is a lot these days. 
I like being slightly "outside," yet in tune enough to know what's going on.  It's like watching from the sidelines - getting a good view without getting involved.  Not owning a cellphone/android thingy puts me right there.  So I guess I'm complaining about something that's given me something to think and write about, and I enjoy both thinking and writing, especially at the same time. 
I'm just fine without a cellphone.  I've got my laptop and little web.  I'm wired enough for what I need and want.  I don't have it all, but I have enough.  So I'll end this blurb with a bit of ancient Chinese wisdom that I've quoted here before... Enough is as good as a feast.
Blessed be.
- G.P.