There are a few people who do not have cell phones. Most are elderly or very poor, it is said. Though the poor people I know, on welfare or on the streets, have cell phones. It's the mentally ill on the streets who do not, in my experience.

And there are some who are younger and tech savvy who just refuse to have cell phones. They relish the freedom from constant contact. They feel in control of their time and social interactions.

I don't understand this last group. If you don't want to be in contact, if you don't want social interaction, then just don't answer the phone for a while. Or put it on vibrate and pick up the calls and messages when you choose to be back in touch.

Meanwhile, phone calls and messages accumulating on your cell phone allow you to know who contacted you and give you the option of calling back, just as answering machines sitting at home in an empty house did, back in the day. And, no, you don't have to call them back if you don't want to talk to them.

The important thing, to me, is that my cell phone gives me the freedom to go out and about and still be able to be reached if husband or friend has an emergency -- or I do.

Once, I am convinced, being able to make a call when stranded in the center divider on the freeway saved my life. I wouldn't give up my cell phone for anything. Can you imagine having to find a (working) pay phone in the middle of the day on the road? Or having to stop in a store or motel and beg (or pay for) the use of their telephone? Or asking someone if I can borrow their cell phone for a minute....

Can you imagine if my husband had to make an urgent trip to the ER or fell out of bed and couldn't get up and I didn't have a cell phone by which I could be reached?

No, thanks. I'll keep my cell phone and when I want some privacy I'll put it on vibrate or unclip it from my waistband and leave it on the kitchen counter. I'm perfectly capable of not answering the telephone if I need solitude.

I'm not so lacking in self-control that I'm a slave to my cell phone.