Cell Phones have changed how we meet
Sense of Time differences
This is a story from when I went shopping with a friend.
I showed up at the station ticket gates 5 minutes early, like I always do. When the meeting time passed, I got an email from my friend that said "Sorry, I'll be a little late." I thought my friend would come after about 5 minutes, but after 15 minutes... 20 minutes... I kept waiting and my friend didn't come.
Finally, after 40 minutes, she finally came. If I knew she would be 40 minutes late, I could have gone to a cafe or a bookstore and waited!!!
I thought "a little" is very different between people.
Since then, when I am running late to meet a friend, I never say "a little", I say "About ?? minutes".
Excellent! I am always a little late. I always send a message, so I hope people will forgive me, if it's just 3 or 5 minutes late…
Gucchan
Thinking that the meaning of "a little" is different, or realizing they'll be really late and saying "a little" anyway…
The meeting place of memory
Recently, I met my friends from my university days. It had been 12 years since we last met! I waited for them in front of the BIGMAN in Umeda. BIGMAN is a very large screen near the ticket gates at the station. Because there's always a lot of people waiting around, it's not easy to find who you're looking for. But, we used to meet here a lot in the past, so I wanted to meet my friends here.
That day, there were a lot of people waiting, but, since we had cell phones, we met each other quickly. In those 12 years, we found jobs, got married, and had kids... everyone's faces and something about them have changed. … So, … I was glad we had cell phones! (lol)
It was convenient.. Station Message Boards
Before we had cell phones, when we went out with friends, we always met in front of the station's ticket gates.
Once we left the house, there was no way to contact each other, so I was always nervous when meeting people.
In a person was an hour late, first, I would call their house. If that didn't work, the station message board was useful!
We would write messages in this way: "August 9th, 12:30pm To ○○, we will wait at △△, □□ (Your own name)"
When I saw messages written by people I didn't know, I would wonder if they could meet their friends without trouble...
Now that everyone has cell phones, the message boards have all disappeared. The message boards are a nostalgic memory from when we didn't have cell phones.
Noerin
Since we starting having cell phones, the place we meet and how we make plans has changed very much. And, if the person we're meeting doesn't come at the scheduled time, nowadays, we don't worry too much.