The other day I watched a lady bag her groceries at Cub. Not an unusual experience until she grabbed her cell phone from her purse and began to talk … and talk … and talk … all the while continuing to bag her groceries.

I stood by the cash machine and stared at her, wondering what could be so important that her conversation couldn’t have waited until she got home.

Did she forget the eggs?

I don’t think so because she never went back to get them.

All I heard was the last part of the conversation, “Great. I’ll see you tonight then.”

What?

Is that not out of control?

Are the use of cell phones becoming just another play toy for the fashion conscious?

I think so.

Granted, there are some very valid reasons to have a cell phone.

They’re great for commuters and for those long cross-country trips when your car could break down at any given moment, leaving you prey for all of the psychos and murderers who may happen by.

They’re great if there is a family emergency.

Is someone having a baby? Great, call me on my cell phone.

Does my brother need a couple pints of blood? Hey, here’s my cell number.

And cell phones are great great if Ed McMahon and Dick Clark want to know where you are because they have a $20,000 check from the Publisher’s Clearing House with your name on it.

Other than those three very valid reasons, cell phones are a hazardous fashion statement.

First of all, it’s more likely that someone driving down the interstate and talking on the phone is paying less attention to other drivers than a driver who is simply talking to him/herself.

This is my own conclusion from my own research.

In the last couple months of my daily commute to Des Moines, I’ve encountered nonchalant swerving lane changes by “road-talkers” who have no clue that they just about ran me off of the road.

If they do, they usually take their driving hand (clearly the only one free) to smile and wave.

Yeah, you’re excused.

An even bigger cause of road rage is women drivers who are talking on their cell phones.

This is not to say that women are bad drivers. I’m a woman and I drive better than most men I know. However, put a women on the phone and behind the wheel at the same time … well, it’s safer to keep a distance or take an alternative route.

Of course, a man who thinks he’s a superior driver simply because of his genitals and testosterone level is more dangerous than 10 women.

I also noticed an over-abundance of the use of cell phones after a bout of severe weather in Des Moines a couple of weeks ago.

OK, I can understand that some people may want to let loved ones know that they are OK, but c’mon — the radio stations were sending out pleas for people to hold off on their use of phones and I was sitting next to someone calling to check his messages.

Does it give someone a sense of power to pull out his or her cell phone when walking down the street? Does it say, “Hey, look at me. I have a cell phone; therefore I’m clearly better than you?”

What it really says is this: “Hey, look at me. I have a cell phone and am clearly making up for an incompetence of some sort.”

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Heather McClure is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Harlan.