Even Homeless People have Cell Phones
Recently First Lady Michelle Obama was photographed at a homeless shelter where she was volunteering as a food server. The photo showed a homeless man taking her picture with his cell phone. Rush Limbaugh made a big deal out of this – like it was some kind of social services entitlement or something. Politics aside, I think Mr. Limbaugh misses the point here or perhaps he has not yet realized just how pervasive wireless services are. Or perhaps he is still stuck back in the day when cell phones were considered somewhat of a luxury gadget.
The truth is, they are pervasive and everyone uses them – even homeless people. You might wonder how can someone without a home afford a cell phone. Did you know that you can get pre-loaded cell phones at places like 7-11 for about $20? They don’t have many minutes and when they’re gone they have to be loaded again. I’ve heard that it costs a lot to re-load them so they probably get tossed away – disposable cell phones!
Lightyear Wireless, along with most wireless providers deal in 2 year plans which serves the majority of users. The closest thing that Lightyear has is perhaps the Lightyear Vcard which is a pre paid Virtual VOIP card. It lets you make calls from any phone without charges to the phone line you are calling on. That means you could borrow someone’s phone, make a long distance call, and they wouldn’t be charged for it.
At any rate, cell phones are everywhere and just about everyone uses them. The homeless people who use them need them as a lifeline to the outside world. Those cell phones allow them to receive calls from prospective employers and such, so for that group, I’d say it’s a necessity too.
