I've gotten so spoiled by texting. My cousin was here for the weekend, from Toronto, and has no texting plan. And we were constantly having to do BART pick-ups, etc, which required calling for any updates/changes that could have been handled with one word via text. I can't believe how quickly I've gotten used to texting and how much more I loathe making calls.

Huh. It makes me crazy to exchange 6 texts (while being charged for each one) when a 30 second phone call would do.

Think about tit.

Heh heh heh....

Huh. It makes me crazy to exchange 6 texts (while being charged for each one) when a 30 second phone call would do.

This.

2) a lot of the things they think are frivolous expenses are not.

I have heard a number of right-wing rants against cell phones in the hands of people they perceive as wastrels. It doesn't seem to occur to them that cell phones can be pay as you go, and therefore they're the only phone they can afford. Also, not having a phone compounds the job search a thousandfold.

There may be young, single people out there who are spending their money frivolously rather than pay for health insurance. They will also be extremely cheap to insure and their being insured will cut the costs of running emergency rooms and funding treatment conditions that cost a lot more because they didn't get earlier treatment.

My plan with Kaiser was $550 a month, but that plan went up to $800 my last birthday, so I had to go to a plan with a high deductible. It's not pretty. There are almost no meaningful dental plans available to freelancers.

Huh. It makes me crazy to exchange 6 texts (while being charged for each one) when a 30 second phone call would do.

But it wasn't something that would have taken 6 texts. The text would have said "the restaurant is Ponzu, corner of O'Farrel and Taylor" and it could have been sent at any time during the day, while she was in meetings which couldn't be interrupted. Instead I had to leave a voicemail (long distance for me-since her cell# is Canadian), which she had to call in and check (another charge--including roaming for her) and then call me again once she was out of her meeting and knew what time she could meet me (another voice mail, a charge for her...) and asked me to call her back again to confirm the time! Arrrgggh. Too many calls.

(I admit to having an aversion to the phone used like this. I used to have a boyfriend who lived in LA and would come up to SF for visits. From the moment he landed, he'd be calling me EVERY 3 minutes asking me where I was, telling me he was, etc. He refused to 1) stop calling and 2) stay in one damned place so that I could find him.)

Eunice Shriver has passed away.

Huh. It makes me crazy to exchange 6 texts (while being charged for each one) when a 30 second phone call would do.

yes, this. Also, I hate it when people send "how are you doing" texts. Texting is not for conversations, it's for communicating information.

Huh. It makes me crazy to exchange 6 texts (while being charged for each one) when a 30 second phone call would do.

Seriously! Gah.

Texting is not for conversations

It is for the people who don't get charged for each text.

Text conversations with my sister are cheaper than calling her in Jamaica, especially on the cell, and can take place in a disjointed fashion, at our convenience, instead of having to take place at a time when we are both free. Love it.

Oh, totally agree with the conversations thing with texting. I think that's why I like texting so much---it's easier to send specific information (like an address). I also like that it's there to refer to if I need it (again with the address example). I don't use texts for conversation - I save that for in person (since, again, my loathing for the phone...).

Full disclosure: I do not pay for my phone plan - my company does. I know they bought the employees an unlimited text plan, and that's about all I know about our company plan.