Mobile Telephones Curse or Blessing?

The other day someone asked me for my mobile telephone number and seemed quite shocked when I said I didn't have a mobile. Is it so very strange not to have one? As far as I can see, apart from those who need them for safety reasons, most of the time they are a nuisance and sometimes a danger.

The people who use them sometimes seem to have lost all common sense and manners. I once heard a young woman in the middle of Victoria Coach station speaking on her mobile obviously to her bank about why they'd bounced a cheque and would not extend her overdraft, she was speaking very loudly and seemed absolutely oblivious to the fact that about twenty five people were party to her private financial affairs. Another time I was standing in the queue in my (then) local sub post-office and the woman in front of me was obviously consoling a friend who was having marital troubles. She did not even stop when she reached the counter and the post-mistress had to serve her whilst she continued her telephone conversation.

I also worry when I see teenaged girls walking along the street chattering away on their 'phones, especially at night, they are often so wrapped up in their conversation that they are totally unaware of what is going on around them.

The worst idiots are those who insist on using their mobiles when driving a vehicle. They can be seen every day, drivers so enthralled by their telephone call that the driving of the car is merely incidental. Why can't they either find a place and pull over to make a call or leave the phone on voicemail until they stop. It is impossible to concentrate on both a telephone call and on driving a vehicle. It only takes a second's inattention to either have or cause a terrible accident