One of the seven percent...

I heard on TV that only seven percent of Americans don't have a cell phone...and I am one of them.

It's not that I am opposed to technology and electronic devices. If I need and want one, then I'll buy one. If you need or want one, then buy one.

But I honestly don't need one yet. I needed one way back when I was traveling weekly on snowy Wyoming roads, delivering my newspapers to a printer hundreds of miles away. But they didn't have them then.

Why should I get one now when my land-line phone is fine and adequate for my needs? (Relatives and friends know my number and how to reach me.) Why should I get one now when it will likely just add more expense to a phone bill? Why get one and risk even a long-term threat of possible brain tumors, if various research about "putting a microwave-like device against your head...and cooking" turns out to be correct?

About half of the time when I call someone who's using a cell phone, the reception is either bad (unless they are truly frying bacon) or the connection will suddenly end, as their batteries die, and we are cut off from our conversation.

If I were traveling a lot, I would want one. Maybe that will mean a summer purchase sometime. If I had children who were college students and traveling the roads to college, I would want them to have one, though I would encourage "emergency use" mainly.

I have told students that I will certainly get a cell phone when, not only do they come with Internet and photograph capabilities, but also work as a flashlight, a shaver, and a taser.

So, I still don't feel the need to rush out and buy a cell phone because 93 percent of Americans have them. I am fine being in the seven percent.