Picture Mail Horror
I consider myself relatively young in the grand scheme of things. Twenty six years old isn't ancient by normal standards. Although I find myself outgrowing (or perhaps shrinking away from) my circle of friends more frequently as I am the only "single" and "childless" girl among my remaining social group. The pressure to date has never been more exhausting. My mother acts as if I am forty and going to be barren soon. My dad thinks I'm a lesbian and my sister (a happy stay at home mom) frequently tells me "you just have to experience being pregnant while you're still young enough to enjoy it." Believe me; I know how crazy this all sounds when thirty is supposed to be the new twenty and so on. Needless to say, although I don't plan on procreating any time soon (even though my mom keeps insisting she wants more grandchildren) I have been subjecting myself to the sometimes painful process of dating.
You may ask what this all has to do with the wonderful technology (Technology is the knowledge that allows us to further our proficiency with and understanding of the world around us (Maher, Olson, Best, Sours, and Rutherford) that is the cellular phone. Well… The cell phone is a symbol in today's society. It is a symbol of the horrific times we live in! "Because we create our worlds through symbols, changing our symbols changes our worlds" (Foss, Foss, & Trapp 3). And boy oh boy has obtaining a cell phone changed my world! But more importantly, it has changed the way relationships are initiated in my life.
The cell phone has been my champion, my hero, and my nemesis all in one during the last few years of my dating life. Not only can you now block numbers and callers, but you can save contacts under clever listings such as: Psycho Steve or Don't Ever Answer. I also have encouraging names for phone numbers on my contact list. For example: You're Better than This and Never Again keep me from revisiting my habitual offenders. This world is full of booty callers, stalkers, and men old enough to be your father; caller ID is no longer an option, it's a necessity.