Every once in a while I wonder why I continue to keep my telephone service. I hardly ever use my phone and I don’t see why I should continue to pay $45-$50 each month when I rarely pick up the thing to dial out, and I rarely pick it up either when someone dials in. There is only one transaction I use the phone for, and that is to pay my monthly Chargex bill. I can do the same transaction, however, via the Internet or by calling from a work telephone. 

I feel that I could live quite comfortably, and save six hundred dollars a year, by not even having a telephone at all. I should point out that I do not own a cellphone, nor do I plan to get one. 

I cannot justify spending $600 a year on a convenience that is rarely used. “Rarely” is an overstatement if I’m going to be totally honest. If I ever needed to call someone I could just do it from work or get over to a pay phone and spend 50¢. Having a phone around in case of an emergency doesn’t tip me over into wanting to keep it “just in case”. If I cancel, then later decide to resume my landline phone service, I will have to pay a re-installation fee, but I can imagine that I will have saved quite a bit of money in the interim by not having phone service at all. 

“Conversations” with my closest friends and relatives take place via E-mail. I do not like to chat on-line. If I am going to be completely honest, I regard a telephone as invasive. Phone conversations are an intrusion. They are interruptions on the person whom one is calling. I am never in a good mood when I pick up the phone as I feel that I must suddenly drop everything and stop to chat. The telephone and I are not a compatible pair–I’d rather not talk on the phone at all. I also don’t like to call people because I feel as though I’m imposing on them. E-mails can be answered at one’s convenience and I rarely require an immediate reply to anything. I communicate almost exclusively with my mother, boyfriend and best friend via E-mail. All three of these people have been upset with me for years why I never pick up the phone to call. It’s not that I don’t want to communicate with them–in fact, I send them reams of E-mails wherein I never seem to shut up. I just don’t like the telephone medium of communication. I also love to write letters and postcards; while some people haven’t sent a letter through the post in years.

I will decide after I get back from holiday if I will cancel my phone service. I’m not making any rash decision immediately. I should keep a tally by the phone and record each time I use it to call out or to listen to the messages people leave me since I rarely pick up the thing even when I am at home. This is not the first time I’ve thought about cancelling my phone service yet it is the first time I’ve made my feelings known publicly.