A Small Observation From 5:15. That's A.M.

This morning, due to the surprising efficiency of the local taxi company and my need to be in NY by 9:30, I found myself at the train station at 5:15. I'm not really awake at this point, and I'm waiting for the coffee stand to open. I'm sitting there, reading some impenetrable screed for the meeting I'm attending and I notice something. There are three people in the waiting area who are TALKING ON CELL PHONES. It didn't seem as if they were making huge deals on the Hang Seng or with their Berlin office -- in fact, I heard one do the "hi, it's me, I'm here at the train station. Yup. Yup..." drill.

Okay, just who the hell are these people talking to at 5:15? What possibly can't wait a couple of hours? Maybe they're going through withdrawal and they took each others' numbers down so they could call each other just to satisfy their pathological need to remain on the cell phone at all times.

And let's not get started on the guy on the train who hasn't discovered his "inside voice". At one point, he's passing his e-mail address to the person on the other end of his cell phone, so I turn to the guy next to me who has his laptop up and said "please, e-mail him and tell him to pipe down, please." He didn't, but he was tempted.

Cell phones. Not everyone is an abuser, but sometimes I really hate them.