We kids born in the mid eighties were the last to grow up without cell phones. I was a teenager before my parents got one, and they were early adopters. They only had one, and it only had like five minutes or something ridiculous like that. The way they used it was basically how hikers use those emergency locator beacons today. Which was kind of silly because it didn't have much coverage, so if an emergency happened outside the city limits you were up a creek anyways.
Then in my late teens when I started driving a lot on my own they put me on their plan and gave me a cell phone for emergencies. We had quite a few minutes by that time, but no text. I didn't really use it much. Although I do remember when we got unlimited minutes.
By college though it got so crazy I really started to dislike having it. People calling at all hours for no real reason. There were many times I would intentionally leave it at home just to remember what it felt like not to be at someone's beck and call 24/7. It kind of sucks having responsibilities and not being able to do that anymore, because I really feel like it was good for the mental health.
Then in my late teens when I started driving a lot on my own they put me on their plan and gave me a cell phone for emergencies. We had quite a few minutes by that time, but no text. I didn't really use it much. Although I do remember when we got unlimited minutes.
By college though it got so crazy I really started to dislike having it. People calling at all hours for no real reason. There were many times I would intentionally leave it at home just to remember what it felt like not to be at someone's beck and call 24/7. It kind of sucks having responsibilities and not being able to do that anymore, because I really feel like it was good for the mental health.
