It certainly seems that every time a good thing comes along to make life better people misuse it to the point of making life worse and ruining the good thing for everybody. And that's especially so when it comes to communication devices. Let me explain.
Think of the postal service. In my younger days we thought it was great to be able to write a letter, put it in an envelope and send it through the postal service to a recipient miles and miles away. And getting mail was special. Whole families gathered around to hear letters from distant relatives and friends, and loved ones read those letters from a special someone over and over again.
The postal service did make for an easy way to pay bills. No need to drive to visit every creditor; just put a check in the mail and you could pay for utilities, groceries and even your house or rent.
But then came the bulk mailings and the advertisers. Somehow they took the fun out of going to the mailbox. In fact, it's gotten so bad I sometimes throw away mail I should have opened because I didn't see it in all the promotional stuff I don't read. And now that a fellow has to be so careful about having his identity stolen, the mail often requires extra time standing at the shredder making sure nothing with names, addresses or other important information just gets tossed.
Then there is email. I still love email because it is just about instant and a fellow can check it when he has opportunity. I can send a message to someone around the world and it is in his inbox in seconds rather than days or weeks or months -- yes, some international mail used to take months. But since email works so well, there came spammers filling my inbox with all sorts of unwanted stuff from legitimate advertisements to scams and viruses to hack my computer. It's gotten so bad that a lot of folks quit using email for much and have moved on to other communication methods. Others, like me, use filters to help get rid of the junk before it fills up my inbox. And, of course, since email lacks in security and someone could steal confidential information, using encryption is sometimes a necessity.
The telephone was a great invention and the privacy was much improved once party lines became a thing of the past. When the phone rang, we answered because it was a real person who wanted to talk to us and it was probably someone we were anxious to hear from. Well, as good as it was, the home telephone has pretty much been ruined by unwanted advertising calls and by bill collectors who just keep calling even though the person they are calling no longer is assigned that number.
Mrs. Griz and I still have a house phone, but I'm not sure why. We were told it would be good to have in case our cell phone towers go down or our cell phone batteries die, but it seems the house phone is down and dead a lot more than our cell phones ever are -- in fact, I often have to use my cell phone connection to complete the Internet tasks I started before the Internet and home phone went dead. I used to answer my home phone all the time -- something we always did when I was younger -- but I soon learned it was pointless because the calls were all advertising calls, recordings, and calls for people who must have had our number a decade or more ago. A home phone could be a good thing, but the abusers have ruined it.
For a while, I just turned off the ringer and was happy to be oblivious to the calls. But I did worry I might actually get an important call someday and not know about it. So, I bought a brand new digital answering machine at a garage sale for $1. That way, I could screen the calls at my convenience and call back and leave a message on someone else's answering machine if the call was important.
I do like having a cell phone, though I still wish I could stick with my old flip phone since it works so much better for voice calls than my smart phone. But, once again, a good thing is being ruined by the abusers. It seems the advertisers who used to call my home phone are now beginning to call my cell phone. Some of them hide or disguise their numbers, and some even make it look like I'm calling myself -- you think they would realize I'd know it if it was really me calling me!
All my phones -- cellular and land line -- are listed on both the federal and state do-not-call lists, but the advertisers keep calling. There is one company that calls with a recorded message and keeps calling even though I've contacted a representative and informed the company it was against the law to call numbers on the national and state do-not-call registries and also against the law to call and just play a recorded message. It's all to no avail!
In an effort to stop the unwanted calls, I added a voice message on my home phone which has cut down on messages even though the phone continues to ring. If the unwanted calls continue on my cell phone, I may be forced to use it there too. On the second ring, callers hear: "You have reached a number on the federal and state do-not-call registry. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before saying anything if you wish. If you understand these rights and still wish to leave a message, please do so after the beep. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you."
I suppose the abuse is why my kids and the younger generation seldom answer their phones. They have gone to text messaging and messaging through social media sites. I'm not a fan of text messaging but, even if I liked it, I've noticed a few promotional and advertising texts coming through there, too.
Once texting is ruined, I don't know what we'll do next. Perhaps we'll have to go back to face-to-face contact. That would be a new way to communicate, wouldn't it?
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 08/12/2015