It's Time for a Cell Phone When...

Yes, it's true, we do not have a cell phone. I can only think of one or two other people we know over the age of 18 and under the age of 70 who still do not have a cell phone (oh, and my brother, who is on a mission in Fiji, but I'm sure he'll get one when he gets home). Despite what several people have believed it is not because we are anti-cell phone, anti-technology (do you know Kenny?), etc. It really just boiled down to saving money and deciding that while it was something we would really, really like to have, it still fell in to the "want" category, not the "need" category. That, and the fact that I really like to talk on the phone and right now we get unlimited anytime minutes and long distance on our home phone for only $25/month.

However, we decided that it really was time to enter the world of cell phone owners when Kenny was unable to call me on our nonexistent cell phone to warn me that there were potential terrorists in the parking lot of his work and it probably wasn't a good idea for me to come pick him up with our two small, defenseless children. True story.

Last Wednesday I had planned to pick Kenny up from work so he could help me send some packages from the post office. His office is right next door to a Macey's grocery store, and I had come early with the girls to get some shopping done. Checking out took longer than I'd planned and we were running a few minutes late, so I decided that it would be faster to just walk over with the girls and get Kenny, rather than walking across the parking lot, unloading my groceries, putting the girls in the car, and then driving back across the parking lot to get him.

I was a little surprised when I rolled up to Kenny's work with my big shopping cart full of kids and groceries (it was one of the big ones with a car attached to the front for your toddler to "drive") that no one was coming out of the building. It was 5:10, prime "going home" time. In fact, there was a big group of people right behind the glass doors pointing at me and saying something. It was then that I noticed someone on the phone with the police, saying something about people with guns.

When I found out that someone had reported seeing two people with guns right there in the parking lot (disgruntled web hosting recipients?), I asked to come in to the building (yep, with the whole shopping cart, too; we were really inconspicuous). I told them who I was and someone went to find Kenny. Poor guy. He'd been pretty frantic with worry, knowing that I was coming and he had no way to contact me (people kept asking him why he didn't just call me).

It all ended well. No shootings, I think the guns may have even turned out to be pellet guns, and we're getting our cell phone.