A Little Fashion Sense
Cell Phone in Hip Action!
We got a new phone plan last week which means that Allison and I no longer share one phone between us. Now we each have our own phone and split 500 any-time minutes. We also changed from Sprint PCS to Verizon which was totally Allison's decision. Allison is in charge of our telecommunications because ever since she took over paying the bills in 2002 she has been consumed with finding the best deals at the cheapest rates. This led her to find Vonage which was the first major company to provide VoIP. When she first wanted to make the switch to VoIP, I admit, I was a hater, I didn't think it would work and that we would go through all this hassle and have to switch back to the phone company. But we have had it for over two years and our bill has been LOWERED by Vonage three times (started at $31.00 is now $24.00 per month unlimited long-distance (US and Canada) and local calling). Obviously she built up major, major capital in moving us towards this cutting edge technology. Our bill went from about $120 a month for L & LD to $24 per month. If you have cable modem and are still being sucked dry by the phone company....you are throwing your money out the window! Make the switch (if you do let me know because I can get a free month of service for every person that signs up).
ANYWAY, so we have these new cell phones, and after carrying mine around in my pocket I stopped in my local Radio Shack and purchased a cell phone holder. Now you need to understand that since I am a youth minister I am really stuck with poor fashion choices. You see there are two types of youth ministry fashion routes a person can go with.
One route says "Hey, I am cool like my kids and I relate to where they're at. That's why I have peroxide in my hair, wear Abercrombie and Fitch, bling the mini conc-shell (or hemp) choker necklace (possibly with a cross), wear oversized jeans, kick the flip-flops or clog sandals, and gell my hair or wear knit beanie.....Oh and I have a tattoo of the club I belonged to in college on my ankle (or a cross or a word in greek I learned my freshman year of Bible)."
The other route says "Hey I still look good in pleated khakis shorts, with a Tommy Hillfiger striped polo shirt tucked in, with leather "Jesus style" sandals, a leather rope belt with a gold clasp, short hair with no gel, a Live-strong bracelet, and sunglasses.....Oh and I have a tattoo of the club I belonged to in college on my ankle (or a cross)."
Those are pretty much the options for the vast majority of youth ministers out there. Since I live in NY and have a wife that still dresses me I don't necessarily fall into those categories. If I was left to my own fashion inadequacies I would probably just be a GAP only person...GAP= cheap, easy, and fast. But my wife loves me more than that so she buys my clothes at H&M and convinces me to go to J*Crew every once in a while.
Needless to say that she was really upset when she saw me sporting my new cell phone on my hip. She thought I was kidding around when I showed it to her. Things got worse when she found out that I had actually purchased the holder, not just found in somewhere. She has forbidden me from wearing it in her presence, and begged me not to wear it period. I have to agree with her that the whole cell phone belt clip wearing fashion trend is kind of dorky....ok it is dorky. And fellas if you don't think it's unfashionable to wear your phone on your belt like your some sort of police officer waiting to be called over the radio (especially you "direct-connect" people), then you need to take a good look at yourself in the mirror (without the leather rope belt on).
But what are we supposed to do ladies? I am not metro-sexual enough to carry a man purse where I could stick my phone inside one of the specially designed pockets, and my phone is too big to have it in the pocket of my pants. I know that wearing a cell phone on my hip puts me closer to the "second route" of youth ministry fashion, and I don't want that! Yet, I have to carry my phone so how is it supposed to happen?
Side Note: What's with people's cell phone rings these days?! Seriously I am all for different types of bell type rings, but having the Entertainer, Beethoven's Fifth, Star Wars (huge dork if you have that), or The Yellow Rose of Texas as your phone ring is embarrasing. I have never seen someone who has a musical ring look comfortable with it going off when they are around their friends. Everyone that has these kinds of rings activated kind of rolls their eyes like "Oh my phone...it just came like that." Everyone knows the truth, you really spent the better part of an hour picking just the right ring. And don't even get me started on the whole Fifty-Cent, Ashanti, Omarion rings!
So how am I supposed to carry my phone?
16 comments:
Jason, don't worry about it! My dad cariies his cell phone on his hip and he is a mere 58 years old!
And for the two youth ministry style groups does that go for coaches as well because Byron definitely falls in that second group and I can't seem to pull him out no matter how many new clothes I buy for him.
Sharla
I'll be the first to admit that I clip my cell phone to my front right pocket. And if Allison doesn't want to acknowledge me in public anymore because of it, than I'd understand. However, I have two serious personal problems that propel me into this fashion faux pas... (1) It makes me seriously uncomfortable to have anything of substance in my pants pockets. That goes for my wallet, keys and phone. The only thing that I can deal with being in my pants pockets is loose change (but no more than .50 cents worth). I even have a caribiner (a real one, not the cheap key ring kind) for my keys to also clip to my pocket for this very reason. The first reason leads directly into the second reason... (2) Because I can't keep anything in my pockets, I lose things - important things - all the time. Things like my wallet, keys and cell phone. I clip my phone and keys to my front pockets not out of an absurdly misunderstood sense of fasion or self-importance, but because that if I know they are clipped right there in front of me than I know where they are at all times.
Oh, and my clip was packaged with my phone. Only real dorks would actually go buy one at RadioShak.
Oh, and this morning I see Kate at the computer looking at my blog and I say "Hun, I'm a dork. Nobody leaves me comments anymore." and she starts laughing and goes, "you're gonna feel like a bigger dork after you read Jason's blog!" Of course, my phone was clipped to my pocket at the time...
jason, i agree with your wife. please don't wear that phone clip. I used to do it. then i realized i was a retard.
my phone is big too. it fits in my pocket. if you wear those jeans loose enough, it'll fit. also, keep your phone on vibrate. no need to tell the rest of the world that you have a phone call.
I guess the real question is, "if you have made it this long sharing a phone, why this need to have one yourself now?" I'm sure your reasons are good but there is no reason good enough to have a belt-clip. Are you really that important that you need to be reached 24/7. Carry it in your bag (you've got one) when you commute, put it on your desk at work and in your cup holder when you drive. It's just that easy.
Allison, you are in my prayers. That adds a new twist that he went out "gleefully" and bought a belt-clip. Wow.
i have to admit that it's a little sad that you were so excited to get the belt clip, but we all have our thorns in the flesh I guess. my wife and I are moving to a different apartment at the end of may, and we're seriously thinking about making the switch to this Vonage thing you've been talking about. When we do, we'll make sure we mention that you were the one who turned us on to the idea. shalom!
Jason,
Thank you for tackling such a difficult topic. It takes a lot of courage to cover something as emotionally-loaded as cell phone fashion.
Here's a new one you might want to try. Put the phone on a lanyard and carry it around your neck. That's what they do here in Thailand. You can be the first to start the trend in the States!
First time reader hopping over from Cope's blog... I enjoyed the laffs ... and keep my phone in my pants pocket. It's a small Motorola model ... no problem.
Oh, and I do have a man-purse, but I was embarassed that it was called that ... dorkism is hard to avoid.
1. VoIP rocks my face off. We use BroadVoice for local only and it might as well be free. ($10/month or so).
2. As another wife of a former hip-clipper, there are only two words to solve this- tiny phone.
3. Youth minister style. Hilarious. And sad. And hilarious. Chi Phi Rho Sigma Bros in Christ forever, dude!
I find it comforting to know that if - God forbid - my wife and child are in a car accident that she can call for help (and ME) without any delay. Selfish? I don't think so. Just because I carry a phone doesn't mean that I feel compelled to answer it if it rings. I don't feel owned by my telephone. I like to have the option to answer a call from someone if they want to reach me. And for the more practical reasons, I travel time-to-time on business and am on-call almost 24/7 when away. Plus it saves me money by letting me have a free call when I want to call my wife, no matter where in the country I am. Those are my reasons.
So your Golf Workout book is having you do Scissor kicks??
just passing thru and had to comment...
being averse to the hipclip myself, i do have to say that there are A LOT of people who sport it that way... and it's not actually un-cool to wear it so. that being said, wearing it in your front pocket not only looks silly (is that a PHONE in your pocket, or are you just happy to see us?) i would think it's a tad uncomfortable?
Had to chime in with .02.
1- VoIP is awesome, I finally got my wife to go along with this idea, and now she loves it. We are using lingo and our bill is exactly 22.03/month. You can't beat that at all.
2- I have struggled with the cell phone issue too, I just drop it my pocket and go, although I ama gadget weirdo and like to have the coolest one possible at all times - that's another issue.
3- Youth Minister dress - I live in LA, that's Lower Alabama, so dress for the youth ministers is an interesting issue. I pretty well roll with the classic southern guy thing. Baggy jeans, clarks, 991's or sandals, polos and tshirts, always a hat..
It is what it is, I just go with the "all things" philosophy, it works where I am. Youth ministry dress should be brought up on the forum... I may ask the question...if you're cool with it... I'm gonna leave the part about leather phone case off though...Ha! Blessings.
Post a Comment