I do not carry a cellphone. I am employed and live in a major city. I never think about not having one. I know multiple other people, also employed, living both rurally and in cities, who do not carry cellphones.

It is entirely optional.

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tdeck an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> I am employed and live in a major city. ... . I know multiple other people, also employed, living both rurally and in cities, who do not carry cellphones.

This doesn't mean much. I know multiple people who fit this description, live in the US, and can't speak or read English. However, speaking English isn't meaningfully optional. You will face constant limitations and problems in every aspect of life. There are people who don't use electricity, so I guess by your definition that's optional too?

> I never think about not having one.

Sure you don't.

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zhoBEENG an hour ago | parent [-]

Genuinely. Thinking back on it now, the only times I notice it is in some restaurants that don’t have paper menus out by default. I need to ask for one, which feels very odd and kind of awkward. This is the only instance I can think of.

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tdeck an hour ago | parent [-]

What happens when you're meeting up with someone? With the folks I know who don't have a phone, this is always a real pain point because they don't have a way to communicate or receive changes of plans, "I'm going to be late", etc...

	▲	zhoBEENG 41 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		We agree on when to meet and where, and then we both actually show up. The whole last-minute plan changing thing is a pretty recent phenomenon, I believe.

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anonzzzies an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Less and less though and you need to go through quite a bit of trouble sometimes already. Banking, gov apps, I know more and more companies you cannot enter nor clock in without smartphone etc. Sure, you can just resign, move country, try to find another bank; in the end you will run out of options as they are all moving there.

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jrmg 39 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

So many stores and (all?) banks require two-factor login now, where an SMS sent to a phone is the second factor. How do you cope with this?

	▲	zhoBEENG 7 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I do not carry a cellphone, but I own an old one with no data plan that remains off and in a drawer except for when used for things like this. I am not sure I have run into any stores that require 2 factor. Mostly just official stuff like banks.

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sd9 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Counterpoint: I could not do my job without one. Clients expect support over WhatsApp.

	▲	zhoBEENG an hour ago \| parent [-]
		For sure, but you still do retain the option to leave it at work, unless you have some kind of 24/7 sales job. I do think privacy at work is not an option for most people.