What did people do before cell phones?

Maybe I've spoken of this before. I have been in an airport at least two other times since starting this blog.

On my travels to Denver (which, surprisingly, I was able to do direct from ICT - no connectors) I noticed yet again how people are perpetually chatting, talking, marketing, scheduling, arguing, conferencing, you name it, on cell phones.

I know, I know, you're saying "So? What's new about this?"

Well, yes, you see folks in malls, in cars, at movie theatres (ughhh) on phones, or texting.

But at an airport gate, it is almost total saturation of cacophonous voices. Sure, there is a higher percentage of business travelers in airports, so they might need the constant connection a little more than others, but still. There had to have been a time where you just sucked it up and said, "I'm traveling all day tomorrow, but I'll call and check in as soon as I return/arrive." Your business or conversation just had to wait.

We all have such short digital leashes now. Gotta have the phone and internet handy or we start experiencing the shakes and cold sweats. I should have known that technology was starting to take us over when I saw an old friend, who drove the most prehistoric Toyota truck known to man, had gotten a cell phone. This is a guy who lived in the crappiest apartments, without cable TV, or even without TV at all, for most of our college existence.

I, too, am guilty of feeling the need for connection, don't get me wrong. But how much is too much? I thought I had lost my phone for the better part of a week last week, and I didn't go into cardiac arrest without it. Those who really needed me knew where to find me, and the 11 missed calls and texts that didn't, seemed to survive until the phone was located.

Incidentally, it was under the passenger seat of my car. Adam and I discovered it as we were driving to the mall to purchase a new phone. Serendipitously, I received a phone call, it rang, and Adam tracked it down. Thankfully, the battery hadn't run dead, or else we'd have shelled out $100 for phones that aren't really needed. Sure, I like the Krazrs and Razrs and Sidekicks and mmmmm...the iPhones, but I just don't need all that crap.