I, like most of the world, have a cellphone. I always thought I used it too much, but on my recent trip to Phoenix, I couldn’t believe the outrageous usage I saw. 

The first was dinner with my lovely sister and friend. We hadn’t seen each other in awhile, but our catching up was short lived – as both texted and Blackberry messaged other people. Stories were started, and then stalled as an obviously more important text had to be sent out. I swear it took 10 minutes for my friend to spit out one story, as I encouraged her to put her damn phone down. 

The next day I set off on an air travel adventure – Calgary to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake to Phoenix, with a four-hour layover in the Utah airport. On each flight the flight attendants had to remind everyone to shut off their cellphones and stow electronic devices like a bunch of children who wouldn’t put down their video game controllers for dinner. 

Because I was heading to the United States, I had to keep my phone off to avoid roaming charges, except to send a message ahead to my boyfriend to let him know my flight to Phoenix would be delayed by at least 10 minutes. As I was getting on my flight in Salt Lake, I peered into the cockpit of the plane. My pilot for the Phoenix jaunt was on his iPad playing checkers. I wondered if maybe he had something better to do, you know, like preparing the flight for take off?

As I took my seat and tightly buckled myself in, I decided I was relieved he was at least playing checkers. Chess would have put me completely at ease, I think, but the bright side was that he was playing a game that required some logical thought. Had he been playing Call of Duty, World of Warcraft or maybe even that addictive Angry Birds game where you throw vexed little birds at structures containing pigs, I think I would have stepped right off the plane. 

When we landed – safely – every person on the plane fumbled in their carry-on baggage for their beloved cellphones, and jingles filled the air as each device powered up. The passengers scrambled to call loved ones and tell them they were on the ground. I took a different approach. I didn’t call my family, because I figured if I hadn’t made it, someone would have called them. No one panicked. My boyfriend Josh didn’t receive any horrified phone calls from my inconsolable parents asking if I had made it to my destination.

I think the best thing about my vacation was not using my cellphone the entire time, while observing everyone else’s attached to their hand. It made me wonder how the world ever spun before the mobile phone was invented. As far as I can remember, people still arrived to places on time, flights took off and landed with family members waiting at the gate. Kids rode their bike to the neighbours and people dropped by to say hello instead of sending a text. Communication was much more personal, whereas cellphone communication is like holding the people you are talking to at arm’s length. 

I challenge all of you to put down your phone for a day, and remember what it’s like to speak face-to-face, send a letter, use a date book for recording appointments, knock on a front door or use an alarm clock – you know, those little clock radios that use to wake you up in the ‘90s?

The Government of Alberta is preparing legislation that will ban cellphone use while driving, which will not only prevent accidents, but misspelled, distracted texts to the wrong person.

DISCLAIMER: The Last Word is an opinion column, it is meant to provoke thought and debate. As such, any opinions written here are the writer’s own and do not reflect the viewpoint of any other Fitzhugh staff member or the directors of the Jasper Media Group Inc.