Cell Phone Hegemony I recall how annoying it was years ago when smoking everywhere was legal in California. Many complained about the restrictions when they arrived, but I didn't, because I seriously hated watching shoppers smoking through the tomatoes and lettuce in the vegetable section of the store. People forget how sickening that used to be, especially with the butts all over the grocery store floor. Tossing a burning smoke on the ground, stomping it with your foot, and leaving it to be swept up by somebody else later was somehow OK. But laws were passed, and you could finally shop without having to buy broccoli while gagging on a nearby Winston. Grocery stores are now filled with drips talking on cell phones about their sisters. I believe these obnoxious chatterers are all rebellious smokers getting back at us. This is worse than smoking! How did these phones come to dominate our lives like this, and does anyone even try to resist? Cell phones now rule the world's collective unconscious in untold ways. What astonishes me about all this is the sociology that has crept up on us. Why do we have this incessant need to chat on cell phones all day long? Test out this thesis. Make a note of a friend who calls you from both a cell phone and a land-line at different times. Time the calls and note the content. The cell phone calls will always be longer and more inane--without exceptions! In the second sentence of the first paragraph, the pronoun 'they' in 'when they arrive' refers to ______.