As a student studying journalism, you would think that I wouldn’t have any qualms about communication. But sometimes I feel like I am a slave to it.

I don’t even want to know how much time each day I spend reading and responding to emails, catching up on the news via the television, radio or reading The BG News.

The cell phone is the worst culprit though. I am definitely a cell phone junkie.

A lot of people are. In this day in age, it is almost a sin not to own a cell phone. I can only think of about two people off the top of my head who don’t own one.

Talking isn’t the only form of communication accomplished on a cell phone either. You can also check e-mail anywhere you’re at, send and receive text messages or surf the net with a cell.

If you have a crappy phone like mine, text messaging can be a huge waste of time. It takes quite a while to type the message with your phone, sometimes having to spell out each individual word, and then I have to wait about five minutes for the message to actually go through. Then, approximately15 minutes later, I’ll get the response. And the “conversation” then continues on like this, until one of us gets frustrated and calls.

I have definitely had a loss of privacy owning a cell too. My friends and family have the ability to know where I am at or what I am doing at the touch of a few buttons.

So why don’t I just not answer?

Those repercussions would far outweigh just answering the phone. It’s 20 questions if you don’t answer your phone.

” Where were you?”

“Why didn’t you answer?”

“Why didn’t you have your cell phone?”

And on top of that, your voicemails are crowded with, “Answer your phone!” or “What’s the point in having a cell if you won’t answer?”

My cell phone is an invisible leash. So why don’t I just get rid of it?

Because it’s an addiction. I feel disconnected without it. Someone could need me or have something important to tell me. What if I get stranded somewhere and had no way to get ahold of anyone? What if I miss out on an awesome opportunity because a person couldn’t get a hold of me?

If I believed in evolution, I swear I would grow a phone on my ear. Pretty sad, huh?

My mom sees the two-fold problem too. She loves being able to get ahold of me at any time, but she’s also afraid that if I spend too much time on my cell, I’ll get a brain tumor or something.

Things were so much less complicated before the cell. I could make plans to meet a friend somewhere at a specific time and carry out plans as usual. Now, I have to give my getting ready status every five minutes, and plans can be changed at the last minute.

So much communication is occurring at once that businesses don’t even have enough people to man the phones. Instead, you have to talk to computers that talk all slow and deliberately like agents in “The Matrix.” Handling problems with these “agents” is the biggest time-waster and has to be one of the most irritating things a person can attempt to do over the phone.

When I call to pay my bill, they have a voice recognition system where you ask the freakish computer agent what you want them to do instead of the long list of pressing numbers. This would be good — if the computer always understood me.

I’ll say, “Make a payment,” and it will say, “Okay, we will transfer you to technical issues.”

Then I remember I have to speak its language and I’ll repeat, “Make a payment,” in my best slow and deliberate “Matrix” agent voice.

Needless to say, it’s a frustrating process that takes about 20 minutes. If I could speak to a human, it would probably only take five minutes.

So why is everyone so obsessed with communication?

Lets be honest here. I think it is a lack of independence and security.

I also think that it is just another thing people do in order to avoid reflection. If you’re not talking on your phone or watching television, then you’re listening to music, working or doing anything else to avoid being alone with your thoughts.

We should all evaluate how much time we devote to staying connected, unplug and make time for silence to just reflect on our lives and spend time with our own thoughts.

Lets have that moment of silence.

Hold on — my phone is ringing.

Help Kristi complain about communication even more by sending her an e-mail at [email protected].