I'm thinking one of the reasons teenagers love cell phones so much is related to the reason many of their older counterparts used to smoke: they give you something to do with your hands when you're standing around feeling naked. As a bonus, talking on a cell shows you've got friends; you're not as big a loser as you feel you must look.


On a related note, when I took a greyhoud bus to Philadelphia--my first trip anywhere by myself--the bus would stop every couple hours and we'd have fifteen minutes to stand there. Eventually I bought a pack of cigarettes just so I could stand with the smokers and have something to do. (That was how I met the 90-year old former bear hunter who was traveling to live with his grandson, but that's another story).

If I'd had a cell phone, I could just flip through my recent calls.