YES, I OWN A CELL PHONE

I own a cell phone.

To understand the significance of that statement, I invite you to read my previous blog post on the subject:

I Do Not Own a Cell Phone

After church one delightful Sunday afternoon, my wife and I stopped at Subway for lunch. Feeling fiscally empowered by the fact that we could buy a five…five dollar…five dollar foot long, we figured we could afford cell phones.

Okay, it wasn’t that simple. We’ve actually been kicking around the idea of cell phones for quite some time. In my previous blog, I listed all the reasons why we were still hold-outs in this communication-crazy age…and cost was at the top of the list. But as we discussed and prayed and debated, we grew increasingly convinced that the cost of owning a cell phone was simply the cost of having what was rapidly becoming a standard vehicle of communication. We agreed to have a look after lunch; besides, looking costs nothing.

We had plenty of time to look at the various models available, since a couple ahead of us was in the process of adopting a pair of cell phones. My wife and I were weighing the options of two different models, when the customer ahead of us leaned over and said that he was getting one the phones we were considering. He was a long time cell phone owner and was very impressed by the features and usability of this particular brand. We thought maybe it was a sign (either that, or he was a plant from the company placed there to reel in naïve, undecided customers). This phone had a good look and had the features we wanted. But one of the best selling points was in how easy we could get a couple of these phones. You see, my youngest daughter bought a cell phone back when she was still a minor. Although my daughter pays the bill herself, the account was set up under my wife’s name. So getting two cell phones was a simple matter of adding two numbers to an already existing account! And doing that was even less expensive than if we were starting fresh. Is that cool or what?

So here we are, cell phone owners. I will not divulge the type of phone or cost or anything, mainly because I don’t want to launch a massive debate of passionate cell phone owners who will say, “You bought what? You paid what?” We got valuable intel after my last entry and we used it in our deliberations. And now, the deed is done. Our phones work quite nicely and are meeting our expectations so far.

As I was sitting at my desk one evening, my phone chimed and vibrated with news that I had received a text message from my wife. I happily responded with a text of my own. I reflected once again on how good it is that we finally had cell phones. And as I turned and looked at my wife who was sitting on the couch across from my desk, I smiled.

Yup, welcome to the 21st century!