Cellu-later

By Matt Angelilli

     Cellular phones are fantastic tools; one of mans most praised inventions, as well as prized possessions. In a world where children need attention, roads need better drivers, and people need a little time for themselves, the almighty cell phone often steals the limelight. In working retail, I deal with lots of people everyday, so I see firsthand the remarkable power this tiny device wields over us. Now yes I own a cell phone too, and I am guilty of the things mentioned earlier, but I believe its possible to change things.

     When I was growing up, my parents went out of their way to spend time with my siblings and me. One of my fondest memories was when my dad took us fishing. He would wake us up at 5:30 in the morning and we would stumble out of our warm comforting beds to brave the chill of a new day. I would toast a pop tart, comb my wild hair, and get dressed and ready to go. In a time before people knew what an SUV was, we would all pile into his little blue station wagon and head off to Lapidum. We spent our day catching yellow perch, and largemouth bass, and eating the sticky peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that he had made with such expertise. Not once do I remember a nagging cell phone competing for my father's attention. A few Sundays ago I was in Jarrettsville watching my sister play softball, and I noticed man off to the side with his cell phone glued to his face. He was so absorbed, talking to whoever it was on the end of the line that he missed his daughter hit a run scoring double. Meanwhile there was my father sitting on the bleachers. Content with supporting the team, he cheered her on and praised her efforts. I wonder how hard it would have been to ask the person that gentleman was talking with to hold on for just a moment in order to watch his daughter bat. I'm glad my father took that time for me.

     My grandfather often says to me "Matt, vehicles and the people driving them are the real Weapons of Mass Destruction." As I travel down the road towards school, work, or wherever it is I'm going I see more and more of what he is talking about. What I am about to mention is the biggest cellular sin that I am guilty of, D.W.T., driving while talking as I call it. Now there is no law preventing this, but there should be. I was going down I95 to Baltimore about a week ago, and I was almost killed. A lady in a red Excursion nearly ran me into a jersey wall at about 75 mph. She was attempting to make the exit ramp, which was coming up shortly. I hit my brakes and sounded my horn in hopes that she might notice what she was about to. She did fortunately, and then went on to give me the dirtiest of looks. Then I noticed it, all the while there it was, attached to her skull like some sort of cancerous tumor, her cell phone. Now she had just about killed me, and given me the evil eye like it was my fault that I was in her way, when all she had to do was pay attention to where she was and what she was doing. I ask myself if the MVA official who had administered my driving test would have passed me had I been using my cell phone while driving the road course. Just a passing thought, but I wouldn't bet on it.

     I am a busy person; there is always something for me to do. I go to school, work full time, work on motorcycles, and spend time with my family. It is very rare that I get some personal time to do something I really want to do. Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to sit down for twenty minutes and soak in all of my surroundings. I ended up going to my best friend Chad's house, and I took a walk into the woods behind his home. While in the woods I made my way back to an old quarry. I had been to this quarry many times before, but not for the purpose of just sitting there and doing nothing. I began to look at the trees and other objects that surrounded me. There were multiple species of trees including maples, oaks, beech, and sycamores. The maples and oaks far outnumbered the others. There were great rocks protruding from the ground claiming their turf, while others looked distraught, even misplaced and lost. Chad had once told me that this was a flint quarry around the 1920's. There are great long fingers, which extend down the hill where massive trucks would dump the rocks that were deemed invaluable to the miners' cause. I totally immersed myself into this little world I had forgotten. I was so engrossed watching the birds, deer, and squirrels that I lost track of time. When I did finally look down at my watch, I realized that I had been there for over an hour and a half. For that brief moment I felt free. In fact I realized that I hadn't felt this way in a long time. I had become a part of nature. On my trek back down to Chad's house my cell phone made a sound, which I can only compare to fingernails running down a chalkboard. As I looked at the screen I saw that I had missed five calls and had three new voice messages. I didn't care though; I just put the phone back in its holster and got in my truck.

     I still take my phone with me when I go places, but do so with a newfound respect. When I am driving down the road I'll turn my phone off, or put it on silent ring. If I'm at a ballgame I give my full attention to the game and what's going on, so that the people playing can look over to the bleachers and see that somebody cares. On my now weekly visits to the old quarry, the cell phone doesn't even leave my truck. I think the world needs to sit back for a moment and stop talking, so they too can experience the treasures that life has to offer. I mean really, is it that important you miss out on life because your buddy needs to know which one of his Porches to drive, or what it was that Donna said about Karen? It's time we recharge our lives. What was that? I couldn't quite hear you, you're breaking up. WARNING: You Are Now Entering a Dead Zone.

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Matt Angelilli is a native of Harford County and a student at Harford Community College.  While landscaping for new housing, he realized how much of our land has been given over to developments.  He has since worked for several eco-friendly companies including Environmental Technologies and Construction, re-establishing wetlands and restoring streams along the east coast.  He wrote this essay for English 101