A Man With Life Figured Out - Woody Harrelson Doesn't Own A Cell Phone Because He Doesn't Want To Be 'Readily Available' To People

Frazer Harrison. Getty Images.

[Source] - On his new podcast, SiriusXM’s “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” with Ted Danson, Harrelson told guest Kristen Bell that he doesn’t own a cell phone.

“And let me explain something about Woody,” Danson said. “He doesn’t have a phone. He’s one of those bullies in life that make other people carry his phone for him.”

Woody explained while that’s “not exactly true,” he enjoys restricting access to himself.

“Well, I just don’t like to have, you know, to be readily available to any human being at any time,” Harrelson said.

I get being rich and older helps here, but this is a man who has life all figured out. I'm lucky enough to grow up in a time where cell phones didn't exist. You wanted to call someone, you made sure no one was on the Internet, you picked up a phone, called it and prayed to God the other person's dad didn't pick up. You told your parents you were going to Michael's house and they just accepted that as a fact. Sure, they found out a way to make sure you were there, parents were basically spies in the 90s. They had some sort of alliance that relayed information to every other mom that needed to hear it. But the rule was simple. Be home by a certain time. What you did in those hours from leaving the house and coming back were completely up to you. No phones to track you, no texts to deal with. 

Don't get me wrong in 2024, I'm addicted to my phone. I can't imagine life without my phone. The ability to get constant news updates, if I need a quick answer, send a text, whatever it might be. And I completely get that nostalgia always lingers, but going back to the days where you just figured shit out on your own is lost. I don't care if it was in the car, you found a way to get from point A to point B with directions like 'look for the red house, turn right after that.' You told your friends you'd meet them at the park at 11 for a pickup game, you got there and waited. No texts asking where they were at 10:57.

There is some beauty in not being readily available. You want to talk to someone, you do it when you're ready. No pointless texts asking what's for dinner or some mindless story that will be told over dinner time. You want to find out who won a game that you fell asleep during? Fine, slap on a channel and wait for a bottom line to show it. That's the glory days. That's how we were raised to battle and time up everything perfectly.  

Again, I get this is tough for regular people. We're constantly checking emails, social media, news, whatever. But really it just proves that anyone who grew up during the entire 90s lived in the best era.