My Parents Need a Cell Phone

There’s definitely a point in which certain forms of technology should almost be expected for people to possess. For example- cell phones.

Now my parents are pretty hip for being 60 and 61. My mom dresses is the most trendy (yet age appropriate- no thongs above the low rise jean line- thank heaven!!) clothes. My dad is super active in building his cabin and jet skiing. But it is increasingly frustrating that his stubborn ways keeps him digging his heels in and refusing to buy a cell phone.

My sister and I have tried appealing to his logical nature- “You have two ground lines- one at the town house and one at the cabin. You could save money by getting rid of both and just doing a cell phone.” Or, “at least get a cell for emergency purposes- you travel so much, it would give us peace of mind.”

But no- he still refuses. His biggest argument is that he’s noticed that when they go out with friends of the same age, these people’s kids call them frequently during the evening. My parents obviously find this rude. My counterargument is that, “I only talk to you about once a week now- why would you possibly think that just because you had a cell phone I would suddenly start calling you numerous times every evening?!”

Aargh! This was further frustrating during some of our family’s health-crises issues. A year ago my sister had a brain tumor removed. Instead of calling my parents to get updates, I had relatives calling my, who lives over an hour away, to get updates on Joelle because they couldn’t get ahold of my parents. This month my sister is giving birth to triplets. Again, relatives don’t feel comfortable bother her, and my parents are difficult to reach, so people are calling me again. I have no clue what’s going on, but I’ve been the “contact” person due to my availability.

Hmm, Mother’s Day is coming up… I do need a gift idea!!!