Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Unwilling Eavesdroppers Richard Ford has a fine story called "The Shore" in the August 2nd issue of The New Yorker.  One of Ford's characters expresses the following sentiment: The worst thing, of course, about hearing others yakkety-yak on their cell phones -- and the reason I don't own one -- is the sullying recognition that everybody's doing, thinking, saying pretty much the same things you are, and none of it's too interesting. These days, no public or private space is safe from the cell phone's intrusion -- not even the men's room.  Last spring, at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike, I overheard a man making stock transactions from the sanctity of his booth.  Judging by both his monologue and his accompanying bodily sound effects, he was dumping some unwanted shares. Eventually, the only ones on Earth not constantly jabbering away on cell phones will be terrorists seeking to avoid electronic surveillance. 11:14:03 AM