Why I finally got myself a cellphone.

I have held off getting a cellphone for all my life, until today.

Why? Well, a few reasons, really. Financially, I feel really averse to monthly subscriptions – instances where money is leaving my account without me having made a conscious decision to do so. Pay-as-you-go plans seemed to be a possibility, but I resisted.

Socially, the inconveniences haven’t been too inconvenient. Sure, a few times people have missed busses and I’ve been left waiting for them, but I figured that just meant people were learning to be punctual. 😛

Besides, there are negative social costs to cellphones, not the least of which is when they go off in the middle of a class, rehearsal, or show. (I work in theatre). And goodness knows, my days are jam-packed – I don’t need to sit around, waiting for someone to call in order to have places to be pretty much every evening. Also, up until this past year, my roommates had a landline which I paid a little into to use as my phone as well. But I’ve been off the grid since last April, aside from being able to phone out with Skype.

But, professionally, not having a phone is downright unprofessional. Not having a number people can contact me at is a serious issue, and I understood that. But still I resisted with some internal stubbornness, some gut-heavy nervous reaction that I still don’t really understand. Maybe I enjoyed being different to the people around me. Maybe I’m worried about any step that pushes me into living a less simple life.

So what brought me around? What made me finally go to the nearby 7-11 (their ‘Speak Out! Wireless‘ has the best pay-as-you-go plan around these parts) and purchase my cellphone? My morals.

Last week, I realized that if I have a phone, people can contact me if they need someone to talk to. If I don’t have a phone, they can’t do that. So, for that greater chance that I might help someone in need, that pushed me over the edge of my indecision.

I discovered that it would be against my ethics NOT to have a phone. Andrew Wade, welcome to the 1990’s.