Landlines, Cellphones, and the Breakdown of the Family

Oh, no! Another over-the-top meltdown about the decline of family, morality, and American values?

Not really.

But I have been thinking about the rise of cellphone-only households for a while now, thanks to articles like this one in the San Francisco Chronicle and others, which report that roughly one in five American households are cellphone-only, ranging from about 5% in Hamptons-Riverhead NY to 38% in Bryan-College Station TX (sources are Arbitron and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Mostly I have been thinking about this question for a personal reason -- my sister and her husband have recently moved to New Orleans, and are experimenting with the landline-free life.

It used to be, that when I would call my sister at home, I would call the landline. Most often, she would answer, but sometimes it would be my brother-in-law, or one of their children. And truthfully, it didn't really matter. Even if I had a specific question for my sister, I would chat with my brother-in-law briefly and find out how things were going with him and what was new with the kids. Most of the time, I just wanted to talk to someone in the family.

But now, I have to be more intentional: Is it Todd [names have been changed] I want to speak with, or Carla? And since I'm close to my sister, it will usually be Carla. And that's too bad, because Todd's important to me too, and relationships require attention, even if it's just a quick "how's-it-going".

I don't have a solution to this. It's yet another of those "unintended consequences" things, I guess. But I am going to keep thinking about it.