...I am treated like a leper, nay more than that, a pariah: outcast and alone, adrift in a sea of my own making.  Why is that?  Well I’ll tell ya’, it’s because I eschew the pernicious influence of modern contrivances and modern conveniences in the simple, yet somehow rebellious and controversial act, of NOT owning a cell phone.

What the fuck is wrong with people?

Just because I DO NOT own a cell phone doesn't mean I'm inhuman, abnormal, amoral, and abhorrent.  Just because I DO NOT own a cell phone does not mean I have been shunned by society and my family and friends.  Just because I DO NOT own a cell phone doesn't mean I have no social graces, no regards towards manner, etiquette, and protocol.  Just because I DO NOT own a cell phone doesn't mean I'm stupid; on the contrary, I think it supports intelligence to do without.

And finally (this might be the strangest thing of all) just because I DO NOT own a cell phone doesn't mean there's no way in this great big world to get in touch with me, or talk to me.

This whole thing is starting to sicken me.  Let me leave you with a quote from Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Watcher" from the aforementioned show, circa somewhere between 1996 and 1997.  The following is he describing his reaction towards computers.  I'm beginning to think it was prophetic, as far as your humble narrator's concerned.

“Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a . . . it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It’s-it’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible. It should be, um, smelly.”