Poor farmers with nice cell phones
Many people here don't have a landline but they have a cell phone. I'll see peasants doing dirty manual labor either here in town or out in the countryside and the minute I start to think they must not have any worldly possessions, they reach in their pocket to answer their cell phone. One thing about the idea of cell phones in this country is that it works very well with Chinese people's lifestyles. People here do not plan very far in advance for anything and most events are planned and happen at the last minute. As a groom and bride are standing outside a restaurant greeting their wedding guests, they'll also be on the phone inviting and reminding people to come to their wedding. No matter what the occasion is and no matter how many times I invite others to come, I still need to call up my friends on the day of. People here change their plans all the time and are constantly moving. There's not much of a concept of hanging out with friends in one place. After 30 minutes, everyone migrates to another's house or club or whatever. After 30 minutes of that, more migration. Shops and restaurants and businesses open and close and change location all the time. There's no such thing as an answering machine here. Maybe they exist in other parts of this country but they are nowhere to be found here. Locals think I'm weird because I didn't have a cell phone until I was 24 and that was in this country. They ask, "how are people supposed to get a hold of you when you don't have a cell phone?" I say, "that's the beauty of it. Everyday when I came home I got to check my answering machine. It was like Christmas." I'm not against cell phones. In fact, my cell phone has made my life here so much easier and its actually been life saving on several occasions. One thing I have been wondering for the last few years is this: What came first.....the cell phone or the lifestyle?
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