Just the other day, I was trying to think of occasions when it's acceptable to interrupt something to answer a cell phone, and I couldn't come up with any.  Everything that was a possibility always ended with "...but it could wait till later."  What if your sister was calling to say she had the baby?  She could leave a message, and I could listen to it later.  What if one of your relatives died?  I could find out about it later.  What if you were expecting a phone call from a certain person that couldn't call at any other time?  I guess it just wasn't meant to be, and I'll hear about it later. 

I'll admit that this is at least partially as a result of how I was raised.  No phone calls were answered during dinner.  Ever.  I was angry about that sometimes, but now I've adopted that practice for my "family" (a.k.a. Wendy and me).  Dinner is a special time that's spent with family, without distractions.  No phone call can possibly ever be important enough to interrupt that.  Another rule in my house while growing up was an unwritten rule about calls after 9pm.  You could make and receive calls, but there was always bad karma associated with it.  Wendy and I don't follow that rule quite as well, but it's mostly because her family doesn't do well with rules.  Either way, the phone in my parents' house was treated like what it is:  An object used to make communication convenient, not a life-controlling device that must be bowed down to with immediacy. 

It amazes me what people will interrupt to answer their cell phone.  Conversations.  Bible studies.  Classes.  Vacations.  Hikes.  My rationale in all these cases is, "What would you have done 5-10 years ago, before you had a cell phone?"  The answer is, obviously, nothing.  You would've gotten the message later.  Life would have continued. 

In the same way, life will continue if you don't answer your phone.  That's precisely why voice mail was invented. #technology