"That person on wellfare/whatever can't REALLY be poor -- they have a cell phone!"

[xiphias]

You ever hear people say that?

Cheapest landline I can find around here: $45/month, with long-term contract. Most are closer to $60.
Cell phone data plan with unlimited text and talk, worldwide, and 500 mb of web: $50/month, no contract.

We SHOULD be saying, "That person can't REALLY be poor -- they can afford to not have a cell phone!"

The whole "cell phones are for rich people" stopped being true in the 20th century.

Comments

[yardlong.livejournal.com]

We've had prepaid cell phones/smartphone with PagePlus Cellular for years, paying full price for new equipment on eBay and then $11-$15 monthly for airtime. But I recently got a "home phone" - which required an OBi100 adapter from Amazon and regular home phone equipment, which I didn't have. So I ordered the OBi and a cordless phone system, and it works through my internet router and my free Google Voice number. Free service. We will save a bit of money, but since we weren't spending much to begin with, it'll take awhile to pay for itself.

I always did think it silly when people complained about poor folks having cell phones.