Globex Corporation Newsletter

I moved back to Rapid City about two years ago afer a number of years in Long Beach California. When it came to traffic, I was pretty lucky. I worked non-traditional hours so I didn't have to deal with really bad traffic except on rare occasions. Even with that the sheer number of people on the roads was amazing. My first month living in SoCal I stayed in a hotel conveniently located close to work. I'd get off of work at midnight, hit the nearest freeway on ramp and drive less than five miles to the off ramp that took me straight to the hotel. It was a ten minute drive, fifteen minutes tops and it all took place right after midnight. Even at that, it was busier than I've ever seen it in Rapid City, as busy as regular non-rush hour traffic in the Twin Cities.

After getting an apartment in Long Beach, my commute increased quite a bit, though it was an easy one by southern California standards. It was 7 miles door to door and though it took me closer to 20 minutes to complete, I typically gave myself 30 minutes. I had to do that because a major part of my commute was on the 710 freeway, a freeway that ran down to the harbor and was jammed with trucks hauling containers off of ships to rail yards further north.

I currently live on the east side of Rapid City and there's not too much to the east of me. A lot of the stuff I do takes me to the west side of town. Rapid City has its own set of traffic challenges, most notably tourists who don't know how to get to Mt. Rushmore and "The Gap,"but I can honestly say that there is no destination in Rapid City that is further than 7 miles away or that will take me more than 30 minutes to get to.

So what's with all the cell phones? What's with the DVD players in cars? Remember when your car used to be a device to get you from point A to point B and not a mobile office or rolling movie theater? There is no place you could possibly be going in this town where that phone call couldn't wait until you arrive at your destination. I'm not talking about people from out of town, if you're on your way Mt. Rushmore from the UP of Michigan you've gotta have something to keep the kids happy or you'll most surely go insane.

Admittedly I'm in a different situation than most people with cell phones. When you get right down to it, nobody really has to get in touch with me for anything. The last time I lived in Rapid City, I supervised master control for a local TV station, I had two and a half people working under me running a 24 hour a day operation (no, that's not possible and that's why I quit working there), people who occasinally needed to get in touch with me. I had a cell phone. I paid for it myself because the company I worked for was second rate and was run by cheap assholes. My point, and I do have one, is that I needed a cell phone or, at the very least had a good use for one.

I saw a commerical on TV last night for cell phones, I think it was Motorola, and their tag line was "Where You At?" I'll leave the grammar alone and focus on my point. I was at the fair last week waiting for family members to arrive so we could go to a demolition derby (yes, a demolition derby, I enjoy all of the meats of our varied cultural stew). In fifteen minutes I saw about 50 people walking by while talking on their cell phones. Almost without exception the end of the conversation I could hear included the lines "Where are you?" or "I'm at the fair." I suppose when people call me at home they ask me what I'm doing, it's sort of the way to start a phone conversation. "Where are you?" is probably the cell phone equivalent.

If you think I'm trying to be all superior here, remember that cell phone that I had because I needed it for work? Every other night I would call my friend Dave from my car on my way to the gym. A typical conversation?

Me: "Hey man, where are you?"

Dave: "I'm at Jackson and Sheridan Lake. Where are you?"

Me: "I'm probably a couple blocks ahead of you. See you there."

Calling Dave wasn't going to get him to the gym any faster, for that matter, we weren't doing anything that required split-second timing. He'd get there when he got there. I guess having a cell phone just sort of does that to you.

I remember when plans used to be made. It was agreed to meet at a certain place at a certain time. It seemed to work pretty well. And it very rarely caused car accidents.