She glanced at the mobile phone on the night table and noted that it was still turned off. She decided she didn't want to hear from Maisie again. She would throw the bloody thing away. She didn't like them anyway. They were intrusive and made you accessible twenty-four hours a day. Didn't people feel they wanted any peace any more, on call twenty-four seven? She found it almost Orwellian. No one seemed to have any privacy. CCTV cameras everywhere you went and even TV programmes dedicated to watching complete strangers make arses of themselves.
The protagonist reflects on her disdain for mobile phones, noting hers is off and deciding to discard it altogether. She feels that constant connectivity is invasive and detrimental to personal peace, questioning why society has accepted being "on call" all the time. This sentiment highlights her desire for solitude and privacy, which she believes are increasingly rare in modern life.
She is disturbed by the omnipresence of surveillance, such as CCTV cameras, and the popularity of reality TV that showcases the misfortunes of others. This negative view of technology and media illustrates her frustration with a world where genuine privacy seems almost non-existent, leading her to yearn for a simpler, quieter existence away from the scrutiny and demands of contemporary society.
