FAMILY MATTERS
Cell-phone convert makes every minute count
By Ka'ohua Lucas
Ring.
A shrill ringing roused me from a deep sleep. I lifted my head only to drop like a sack full of nails to the pillow.
The wall clock read 5:03 a.m.
I inched my legs off the bed, my head still glued to the forest-green pillowcase.
The ringing continued.
I trudged over to the counter and lifted the handset from its cradle.
"Aloha," I croaked.
"Hi, honey!" The voice on the other end burst with morning cheer.
"Why are you calling me so early?" I said, then yawned.
"I'm here in my hotel room in beautiful L.A. and was thinking of you. So I decided to give you a call on my new cellular phone."
For the past six years, I have tried without success to persuade my husband to invest in a cellular phone. He claimed he was anti-digital, opposed to a device that would allow anyone to pinpoint his whereabouts by simply pressing a speed-dial button.
"I don't like that kind of stuff," the Berkeley alumnus protested. "I am opposed to a technology-propelled surveillance society."
But he gave in while on a Mainland business trip.
It could have been the $25 fee the hotel charged for the call home that changed his mind. Or the embarrassment of having to borrow a colleague's phone to make calls.
The only problem is that with his newfound gadget, he is only too eager to bother us.
After the 5 a.m. call, he called again at 7:30 a.m. — just to alert me that he was taking a break from his work.
At 10 a.m., he felt compelled to call and tell me he would be at lunch.
"If you need to reach me, I'll have my cell phone with me," he said.
Before, he was always reluctant to own a cellular because that meant I could easily track him down. But for his family, who sometimes need to urgently reach him, it was frustrating.
"I'm sorry, he's in a meeting," the receptionist would say. "Would you like his voice mail?"
No, because he seldom checks his messages.
Once, my son's after-school program called to say our son was waiting to be picked up. It was well past the time when all keiki and staff leave for home.
"I guess Daddy forgot," the 9-year-old said tearfully.
Another time, my husband left the house at 6:30 a.m. to buy kalo (taro). By 9 a.m., he had not returned. All of us were worried, assuming the worst.
My youngest was fully dressed in his soccer gear, waiting on the stoop for dad, his soccer coach, to appear.
At 9:20 a.m., the phone rings.
"Hi, honey, it's me," the caller said brightly.
"Where the heck are you?" I scolded, but with relief. "We are worried about you."
"Oh, I couldn't resist," he said. "The waves were choice this morning. I had to go surfing."
There certainly are advantages and disadvantages in owning a cellular phone.
My husband still has his reservations.
"Now I have the convenience. But now anyone can bother me at any time, including my wife!"
Reach Ka'ohua Lucas at Family Matters, 'Ohana section, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; fax 525-8055; or at ohana@honoluluadvertiser.com.
