Anatomy of a Family, or a Cell Phone Bill

E-mail from my father:

With a little less than half the month past we have already used 771 of 1400 daytime minutes, please use daytime minutes sparingly!!!!

-------------------Mobile------Night &

-------Daytime--2Mobile----Weekend----Text

Abba --- 62-----------444---------107-----------83

Eema ---260*---------424---------218----------219*

Eli7 ---94-----------157*--------868*---------100

Sis1 ---85-----------198---------320----------1,242*

Sis2 ---270---------149*---------810-----------216

*My mother does not know how to send text messages. This means my 14-year-old brother came in second for the most text messages sent. He uses my mother's phone to text his girlfriend.

*Notice how my mobile-to-mobile minutes are almost the same as Sis2's. This is because we use our mobile-to-mobile minutes almost exclusively to talk to one another.

*My mother, I would note, who comes in second for most daytime minutes used almost always has a landline accessible.

*I have no clue how it is possible to send 1,242 text messages in two weeks.

*I'm really proud of the fact that I won for most night & weekend minutes used. (Some might ask how it's possible to use 868 minutes in two weeks, but...)

If popularity were measured by how much combined minutes and text messages one used, Sis1 would come away with a sweep, mostly due to her astronomical number of text messages. If popularity were measured just by how much time one spent talking on the phone, Sis2 would win. I am clearly not that popular, though I do beat out my mom and dad by any cell phone bill measure.