Remember how happy you were when they announced you could “take your cell number with you” if you wanted to switch carriers?  I do. My work email address may change, my street address may change.  Same goes for my work phone and home phone, etc., but not my cell phone. I’ve had my current cell phone number for over a decade. People travel and move all over the country and now and don’t change their cell phone numbers.  Why should they? Nationwide cell calls are cheap. Some people are abandoning their home phones altogether and keeping only their cell phones.  (I’d love to do this, but for some reason, my cell phone works everywhere on the planet; from New York to the Greek Islands to Thailand.  However, it drops coverage as soon as I hit my driveway and I’m convinced the telephone company has installed something in the asphalt that kills my cell service.)

Nonetheless, the reason for this post is simple.  As you’ve seen from my earlier posts, I’ve been to quite a few trade shows and I’ve met, say, 500 people or likely more in the past month.  I’m always curious to see someone from one state with a cell phone from another state.  Now, when I notice it, I always ask about their journey. I was recently in Hollywood, CA and met so many West-coasters with east coast area codes for their cell phones. It’s a great conversation starter and most people are happy to tell you about themselves and their past.  Plus, when you see one of those new funky area codes (my work cell phone starts with 862 area code), it is just as fun to ask “862? Where the heck is 862?”  When I get the question, I sometimes answer “It’s a new, secret, government agency area code for special cell phones…in New Jersey”. Okay, not exactly true but it’s a fun way to start a conversation.