Pluggers Got Cell Phones??

Cidu Bill on Jun 15th 2010

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Filed in Bill Bickel, Pluggers, cell phones, comic strips, comics, humor | 31 responses so far

31 Responses to “Pluggers Got Cell Phones??”

  1. Seraphmonkey Jun 15th 2010 at 12:50 pm 1

    Yes, but it’s a JitterBug with no features what-so-ever, which is why he has a calender, notebook, pencils, pens et al coming out of his front pocket.
    Pluggers are finally moving into the 20th Century.

  2. buzz Jun 15th 2010 at 01:11 pm 2

    They use ‘em for paperweights.

  3. George Jun 15th 2010 at 01:19 pm 3

    I’m not sure what’s not to understand here.

    Cell phones were commercially introduced in the US 27 years ago. They are hardly a new technology, and are ubiquitous these days.

    80% of the people over 45 have cell phones.

    Working “pluggers” as described here are most certainly going to be carrying around a cell phone to do business.

    So, yeah, pluggers got cell phones. If the cartoon had said “iPhone” however….

  4. Dan W Jun 15th 2010 at 01:31 pm 4

    Someone is going to have to fill me on on the meaning of the word “plugger.”

  5. DonBoy Jun 15th 2010 at 01:32 pm 5

    George: that’s all true in reality, but the strip “Pluggers” seems to be about easy-goin’ middle-aged folk who’s just not up to speed to with all the stuff that goes on these days, and have you seen what they put on TV for kids to watch?

    – uh, anyway, that’s why it’s a little surprising.

  6. paperboy Jun 15th 2010 at 01:38 pm 6

    Right; “Pluggers” would say “You’re a Plugger if a ‘cell phone’ to you is what you use to call from jail.”

  7. DonBoy Jun 15th 2010 at 01:43 pm 7

    This is Dave Eggers’ 1996 takedown of “Pluggers”. Still good, despite the reference to “Dole’s upcoming acceptance speech”!

    http://www.salon.com/media/media960710.html

  8. Scott E Jun 15th 2010 at 01:48 pm 8

    Pluggers have cell phones, but they like the simple ones with no cameras or QWERTY keyboards or color screens. A cell phone that does anything more than make calls confuses and frustrates the plugger.

  9. Dan W Jun 15th 2010 at 01:59 pm 9

    DonBoy - thanks for the article, it was an amusing read. I got a laugh when he referred to Dilbert as one of the few good comics - Dilbert was probably pretty good back then, but it hasn’t been funny for a long time. And Shoe is a “strip of considerable wit and sophistication?” I don’t think I’ve ever found one of those strips entertaining, and I’ve read it in the Sunday paper ever since I was old enough to read the comics.

    Speaking of Dilbert, did anyone catch the Matrix references in that strip from last week (6/11 and 6/12)? Way to be 11 years too late there Scott.

  10. Jordan Jun 15th 2010 at 02:08 pm 10

    So, as per the article, pluggers can own cell phones, so long as they don’t go “gah-gah” over them.

  11. Igelino Jun 15th 2010 at 02:37 pm 11

    Dan W: the matrix references are more about “matrix management.” The parallel to The Matrix are incidental I think.

    Matrix Management is about not having a strictly hierarchical chain of command. Wally thrives in that because he can always claim some other manager gave him something more important.

  12. George Jun 15th 2010 at 02:51 pm 12

    Keywords: Gaga, Telephone, Eww, and Single Ladies from last month:

    http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/dee84bca1d/baby-gaga-telephone-remix

  13. mkilby Jun 15th 2010 at 02:59 pm 13

    Last year my wife was looking for an easy to use phone with a legible display, larger buttons, and a ring tone that could be heard even if the phone was inside her purse. When I iterated those features to the salesperson, the concensus was that it added up to “senior citizen cell phone”. The model we ended up purchasing (from “Emporia”) also offers a flashlight, but the most amusing feature is a retractable card upon which five names (for the one-button “instant dial” list) can be recorded (in pencil). That card never fails to get a laugh from anyone we’ve ever demonstrated it to.

  14. Dan W Jun 15th 2010 at 03:24 pm 14

    Igelino - I realize the jokes are not ABOUT The Matrix per se, but the references are more than incidental - they are central to the “joke.” The problem I have with it is that it has been so long and so overdone that jokes referencing the Matrix are more likely to elicit a yawn than a smile these days. As I said, Scott Adams is more than a little late to the party.

    And believe me, I am more than a little familiar with Matrix management - I spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out which assignment is the most urgent from my various supervisors.

  15. Keera Jun 15th 2010 at 03:36 pm 15

    Dan W @9 and 14, I don’t think Matrix references ever get old. Some of the effects and ideas in the movie were pretty awesome at the time and have stuck with people - much like the original Star Wars has done. it’s become part of the collective memory.

  16. George Jun 15th 2010 at 03:37 pm 16

    I agree with Keera.

    The geeks I’ve been around constantly reference the Matrix as if it came out just last week.

  17. Dave Jun 15th 2010 at 05:33 pm 17

    Ditto Keera and George… and isn’t Wally being 11 years behind the times is somewhat true to his character too? (As least as far as he wants you to believe he is.)

  18. Scott E Jun 15th 2010 at 05:57 pm 18

    “The geeks I’ve been around constantly reference the Matrix as if it came out just last week.”

    Oh yes. I’m not even that big a fan of The Matrix, but I say “I know Kung Fu” in my best Keanu voice constantly.

  19. Jeff S. Jun 15th 2010 at 06:12 pm 19

    The original Matrix was awesome, but after I saw the second sequel (The Matrix Overblown), I was so pissed off, I sold all my DVDs.

  20. The Bad Seed Jun 15th 2010 at 10:42 pm 20

    My mother’s a Plugger, and 90% of the time her cell phone is either turned off, under the car seat, on the kitchen counter, or not working for some inexplicable reason the guy at the phone store fixes in 10 seconds by either turning it off and on again or removing and replacing the battery. Before she finally bowed to peer pressure to get email and internet, she spent 15 years using her computer simply as a large and expensive Solitaire machine. That’s a Plugger for ya.

  21. Seth Finkelstein Jun 15th 2010 at 11:14 pm 21

    IThis is kind of anti-geezerism.

    I keep thinking of a story my grandmother told me about an incident that happened when she was young woman, where a key element was that she had to leave her apartment and go a block down the street to use a telephone. I remember her explaining this to me, as it was clearly outside my experience as a kid - she’d say “Because who had a telephone in their house back then?”

    Cell phones were once exotic expensive devices used by rich people. Now they’re mundane tools, even for pluggers. The same thing is true of GPS navigation - it’s a trucker tool as much as CB radio (also once a high-tech item!).

  22. Morris Keesan Jun 15th 2010 at 11:52 pm 22

    mkilby #13, I would find that card very useful. I’ve actually been thinking recently of sticking a label onto my phone to write my “speed-dial” numbers on. I hardly ever use my phone, but I put the 3 numbers I’m most likely to call (home, my wife’s cellphone, and my wife’s work #) on speed-dial, thinking it would save a little time on the rare occasions when I make a call. But I use the phone so infrequently that I can never remember which speed-dial number is which, and end up cycling through all of them, which probably takes longer than just dialing the number directly.

  23. Keera Jun 16th 2010 at 01:04 am 23

    OK, I admit it: I’m already a plugger. My latest cell phone does fancy schmancy things (like cycle comments from friends on Facebook as a screensaver), but when wanting to write down my next appointment with, say, my hairdresser’s, I write in my printed and bound A5-calendar. The cell phone, with all its menus and requests for confirmation, simply takes too long.

  24. Gilgamesh Jun 16th 2010 at 01:13 am 24

    I understand ideas for Pluggers comics are sent in to the artist by people who believe they are part of the group. I have always been mystified how people could be proud of ignorance. Pluggers are a pretty big deal now with an ex-governor leader and their own news station.

    Pluggers enjoy the advancements in science and technology while professing to being Luddites.

  25. Powers Jun 16th 2010 at 06:54 am 25

    Gilgamesh, not all Pluggers are ignorant or Luddites. They are supposed to be reg’lar folks who just keep plugging along at life, maybe not keeping up with everything but doing enough to get by.

  26. Father Bruno Di Frocco Jun 16th 2010 at 08:46 am 26

    You ‘n’ me, Morris 22. I do have a sticker on my cell ‘phone with those important but seldom dialed numbers. I keep my cell for emergencies only. No keyboard; no camera function. (My Leica takes care of photos.) And I’ve had a cell ‘phone since the days when they came in bags and didn’t look at all like Starfleet communicators.

  27. Gilgamesh Jun 16th 2010 at 11:42 am 27

    @ Powers - you’re right there is a spectrum to being a Plugger. I’ve been thinking of the activities I’ve done; I guess I fall into that spectrum. When cell phones transitioned from the briefcase size to the brick size, I was required to carry the white brick (the phone) a week a month while I was on-call. This is where the Plugger comes in; we protected the phone by putting it inside a thick woolen sock. Even with the pragmatic but, unrefined protective cover, people would ask to see the phone and ooh and ah over it.

  28. George Jun 16th 2010 at 12:30 pm 28

    Today’s “Zits” made me think of this one:

    “A Plugger only watches TV on a television.”

  29. George Jun 16th 2010 at 12:32 pm 29

    Or more appropriate for this thread:

    “A Plugger only uses a cell phone for phone calls.”

  30. mitch4 Jun 16th 2010 at 12:50 pm 30

    And here I thought my insistence on a QWERTY keyboard was a sign of my geezerhood.

  31. Mark in Boston Jun 16th 2010 at 07:38 pm 31

    A few years ago on South Park, a rich kid brought a DVD of a movie to the kids, and the kids were all “DVD? Only rich people have DVD players!” Most people still had VHS tapes. It wasn’t all that long ago, and now only poor people have DVD players without Blu-Ray.

    You’re a plugger if you watch your shows on Ampex four-inch video tape and mix your music down to a Presto disc.

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