Even though my cell is my only phone now… no land line, it would be hard to cut back since I hardly use it anyway. Especially in public. What people will say in a crowded store while on the phone never ceases to amaze me.

This “study” isn’t cited as replicated research, so unless it is, by credible editors, I’m not inclined to give it any credence; however, this has been around every year or so the past 20 years, like the “high voltage lines,” which I do believe may harm us, but no more than having a DISH on one’s home for TV reception focusing more highly condensed particles into the smaller and smaller “dishes.” I lived with the phones for years - from the earliest days of the “bag phone,” on 24-hour call. It drove me almost insane in resturants, public places, hearing people rudely carry on conversations aloud; it’s worse in airports, and men are the absolute limit—I have them categorized by permance and “job classification,” nation-wide. It appears to date, that most of those talking-out loud-people with that thing in their ears don’t have the funds to hire someone, or are mothers who cannot let their children wait until the correct time to contact them. What was that recent ‘study,’ about the highest text-messaging age-group??? Women in midlife - I think it was about 33-45 who were in constant contact with their children! Good gravy. One day, I decided that even if I could “deduct” the cost of the ever-inflated, failing service, it was driving me to distraction, and “just not me,” so I hired another emplyee to handle “communications” for me - giving a new stay-at-home Mom a job. That satisfied me, perfectly, and that person was the most competent, caring, thorough person one could ever dream of to take all incoming calls. Find me when needed? You’d be shocked. The CIA would should have recruited that woman!

Since I’m retired I don’t need it as much. I do like the convenience. I am concerned about possible brain damage to children. Not just from use but from simply being close to cell phones. Time will tell, won’t it?

I have one, but I use it only for emergencies or I should say, possibilities of an emergency. I keep it with me in case my car breaks down or if I get lost trying to find someplace, or if we have a power outage in a storm, but rarely anything else, so I doubt I could “cut down” my usage under those circumstances.

Half the people in the county have my number, and it’s not because I want them to! The cell started out for personal convenience and to keep in touch with aging family, but is also so clients can reach me. I found it easier to be available via phone and have the flexibility to take care of problems when I’m out on appointments than return to my shop and have a gillion messages. Also, being self employed, it gets really irritating to hear the “well, it must be nice to only work when you want to”. Uh…I’m *always* working! No vacation since 2000! Anyway, I love the convenience of hands free in my car and would really like to turn the damn thing off entirely. I have promised myself a vacation with no phone in 2008. Since we’re almost to June 1, I’d better get busy planning.