Old People's Phones

This past Thanksgiving both my 19 year old daughter and my north of 65 year old sister were here for the holiday. I notivced something then that I've seen before but really came into focus with them both in the house: Old people's phones.

The same is true in the office. If you're in the clinic area and you here an "old phone ringer" or Seger's "Old Time Rock 'n Roll," you know who owns the phone. Heavy metal, late 40's to late 50's; A Broadway show tune? The answer depends on how high the volume. But here's the deal: If you can't hear the phone, the user is under the age of 25.

I guess I'm fortunate to have nothing more to complain about but visual and hearing loss drives me crazy. Being reminded of the fact is worse. Thus it was that having both my daughter and sister here at the same time was an assault on two fronts. My sister's phone, always misplaced, would be ringing away. My daughter's phone, never out of her hand, was a nonstop center of texting and voice messaging and was never heard.

I was probably just being over sensitive but it drove me crazy: My sister's phone was an audible reminder of what lies ahead while my daughter's was audible proof of what's fallen behind. Geez-- one more use for a cell phone!