Comments on: txt

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:47:20 +0000

Chuck - A few years ago when I was living in Humboldt County, California I had to serve on jury duty. We got out much earlier than I thought we would and I wanted to call my husband to let him know. I had no cell phone so I looked for one in the building. I finally had to ask a guard and he (giving me a strange look) directed me to the only one left that they had in the building. The phone was old and not in very good condition, but luckily still worked. I have a cell phone now.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 05:27:54 +0000

We still have payphones, but then I don’t live in an area where everyone can afford cell phones. Still, it may only be a matter of time.

By: labradog

labradog — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:48:28 +0000

Take away the punk’s phone, and the texting bill is zero…..

By: ted in fort lauderdale

ted in fort lauderdale — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:56:14 +0000

Chuck@41: Don’t know about 13-year-olds, but my 2 started high school as 14-year-olds, and both were involved with afternoon, evening, and weekend extracurriculars (school sports, rec sports, debate, band, etc.). We gave each phones as they started these so they could reach us if necessary after practices (of course there are no pay phones anymore). There _probably_ would have been other people around with phones, but we decided not to depend on that. Mind you, neither of them texted or used any significant number of minutes at that age (that came a couple of years later :-)) as the phones weren’t quite for “emergencies only” but were pretty close…

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:47:37 +0000

Fishman, can I be in your family?

Hunt, why anyone would give a 13-year-old a cell phone is beyond me. Unless you’ve replaced your land line with cell phones for everyone, but if the purpose of the 13-year-old’s phone is to be a mock land line, then why have texting on it at all?

By: Tocsnai

Tocsnai — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:30:19 +0000

Two sixteen-year-olds, a boy and a girl, in my family. I’m a single dad, and pay $5 for a 200-text package for my son. Otherwise we pay $.20 a text for my daughter and myself, and never approach $5 worth of texts in a month.

They know it costs something, and therefore don’t abuse it.

By: Ted in Fort Lauderdale

Ted in Fort Lauderdale — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:34:58 +0000

BTW: for those that wonder how you end up running huge text bills - it wasn’t a thing that gradually grew over months. The younger one had had a phone for months and never texted (while the older one did, but had an unlimited plan). He was aware he had “free” mobile to mobile on ATT, decided (on his own) that this must mean texting was free if he only texted people on ATT, and boom - $600, first month. He didn’t ask first (teenagers seem not to) and was apologetic after, and by the second month, he had unlimited texting too (well, the whole family did since that was cheaper) - backdated a month…

By: Ted in Fort Lauderdale

Ted in Fort Lauderdale — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:28:24 +0000

The peak I’ve noticed for one of mine (a couple of years ago, he was probably 17 or 18 at the time) was 6500 in a month. That was probably a bit extreme, but I assume he averaged well over 150 per day for months. I just checked last month - he was at just about 5000, and the younger one was about 4000…

By: Jeff S.

Jeff S. — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:53:15 +0000

Over spring break, my wife, daughter, and I drove from Oklahoma to Washington, DC and back, over a 9 day span. While I drove and my wife read or scrapbooked, my daughter used my wife’s phone to text her friends (one, in particular). She started as early as 7:00 AM and almost always ended after midnight. I never looked, but I’m sure it was a WAY higher average than just 80/day.

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:22:31 +0000

furrykef, I could just about buy the story until they overplayed it with the sitcom punchline.

That being said, I’m sure most of us have had experiences that, even with no embellishments, sound more believable as sitcom gags than as reality — but I have to call bs on this one.