Many are called, few are chosen

I could probably use a new cell phone. And actually, I could probably get a new cell phone because I’m pretty sure the last contract I signed with my service provider has expired.

Of course this would involve looking at new phones and signing a new contract. And both of those activities involve something much worse—actually going to the cell phone store.

I really don’t like the cell phone store. Mostly because going to the cell phone store in the past has resulted in a LOT of standing around and waiting. Also, a lot of the people in the cell phone store are sort of scary and/or annoying. For the most part these people fall into one of two categories. Older people that don’t entirely understand the cell phone they’re purchasing, or younger slacker types that probably never owned a land-line phone of their own, and are looking to upgrade to the latest technology. Both of these groups are needy, and seem to demand an inordinate amount of time from the sales people working at the cell phone store. Hence, the standing around and waiting.

Even if I could get passed the apprehension I have about going to the cell phone store, the actual selection of a new phone seems exhausting to me at this point. There are so many models and some of them quite frankly, suck. I’ve had a couple of these suckster phones in the past, and the prospect of ending up with another is extremely unappealing to me.

Sure, it doesn’t have a camera, an MP3 player or a GPS location system, but for the most part, the phone I have works. The biggest problem with it is that it doesn’t hold a charge. And to tell the truth, new or not, I’m not convinced that playing MP3 files on a phone would have a positive effect on the battery life, and strongly suspect that the opposite is true.

At any rate, I’m tempted to play it safe and keep my current phone to avoid getting one with new, unforeseen problems. Mostly, because getting one that didn’t work would be a huge inconvenience.

Worse yet, it would probably lead to additional trips to the cell phone store.