Today is the age of the cell phone. They're goddamn everywhere. Don't get me wrong, the fact that we can physically speak to each other through the air is genuinely amazing. But that doesn't mean it should be a requirement.
Here in America, it's currently impossible to live without a cell phone. I've managed to pull it off for around 6 years, but "pull it off" isn't exactly a comfortable way to handle one of the most important facets of our modern society. The fact is that I made the decision to not carry an idiot pad, and as such constantly get punished for not bowing to that idiot pad.
It's everywhere I go. It isn't optional anymore. Every single website wants to verify your phone number, or you can go the hell away. I'll give a real-world example.
I filed my taxes with Intuit Turbo Tax, as I've done every year for quite a few years now. In previous years, the prompt that asks me to verify a phone number has been optional. There's a big "Skip" button to just ignore that shit because I don't carry a phone. But this year, for whatever stupid reason, I was *forced* to verify a phone number that I simply don't have. It's not like your phone is your I.D. They also confirm your I.D. so the cellphone stuff is just bullshit. But that's the way things are. To survive in this world, you either buy into big technology's miniature data harvesting devices or you are suspended from actually getting anything done. Score one big tech.
But fuck those guys, honestly. If it suddenly became illegal to not own a cell phone, I would still refuse. At one point I just didn't want one because I didn't need one. Now I genuinely hate them with a fiery burning passion. If cell phones are a requirement, then they shouldn't be sold as a luxury. If they're just a luxury, then they shouldn't ever be a requirement. The current state of things is that you hemorrhage money just to do basic shit like create an email address or file your taxes. So again, fuck those guys honestly.