The Demise of the Chirp

Nothing has made me smile harder than realizing that the era of the "chirp" is over. I was talking with a friend at work today and she brought up how she hated speakerphone people. This reminded me that I had an old co-worker who would 90% of the time answer her cellphone on speakerphone. You would have to ask her to take you off speaker to have a normal conversation. What a waste.

Those thoughts made me think of the infamous "chirp". For those of you not in the know the chirp is the sound emitted by a phone when it's on the setting of a walkie talkie. The first phone company I came across to use such technology was Nextel. Nextel allowed people to not use their regular phone minutes and instead contact their friends/family directly. This mode of conversation became known as "chirping". So now as a way to save money people would chirp their friends making a damned walkie talkie sound whenever they wanted to talk or receive a communication from someone else. HOW ANNOYING! Yet, it caught on like wild fire and we were forced to endure another company with similar technology, Boost Mobile. During this time people would be on the bus and the train chirping away. I've seen people wait for that fateful moment the train leaves the tunnel and gets some reception to get busy chirping.

Jerkstore #1 :"CHIRP CHIRP Hey I just got out the tunnel. Where you at? CHIRP"

Jerkstore #2:"CHIRP Oh word. I got a bottle of Bacardi here. CHIRP"

Jerkstore #1 :"CHIRP CHIRP Yo! Don't drink all the Bacardi yo! I'm almost there. Two stops left! CHIRP"

Jerkstore#2 :"CHIRP Aight! CHIRP"

Jerkstore#1 :"CHIRP CHIRP One CHIRP"

Now did I really need to hear that conversation. More importantly did the whole train car need to hear that conversation? My answer is a resounding NO but that's my opinion, yours may differ. You probably got annoyed just reading that exchange imagine hearing it. I've heard all types of conversations that I really REALLY didn't need nor want to hear. Where is the common courtesy for your fellow man? Will someone please think of the children!?!

These days I remove my terrible iPod earbuds from my ears and hear no signs of chirping. The fad has gone to rest along with other fads like Crystal Pepsi and Keffiyeh scarfs. May it rest and leave our ears in peace.