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In a day and age when music programs across the nation are being cut from school budgets, there appears to be one place where music is still a hot commodity: on cell phones.

Gone are the days of the boring monotone ringer. We are in the 21st century...a time of innovation, a time of creativity, and a time when you can download a belching sound as an indication that your grandmother is calling.

When my best friend's cell phone rings, it plays the first three bars to Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." My mother's cell phone plays a waltz from "The Nutcracker." More impressively, my friend from college has downloaded the theme to "Murder, She Wrote" on her cell phone. (Every time it rings, I feel a little nervous for my life.) My father, however, has stuck to the more traditional, one-beep ring. (I don't think he knows how to program his cell phone ringer. Nor do I think he cares.)

However, your cell phone ring can be an important personality identifier. Can you imagine if your company president had a cell phone that played "Money, Money, Money?" Or, would you date a guy whose phone rang to "Smooth Criminal?"

Walking around Main Street this weekend, I kept my ears glued for different cell phone rings. I was amazed at the diversity of music coming from people's pockets and purses. I heard everything from Justin Timberlake to the sound of fireworks. At one point, I really believed that Bruce Springsteen was in the local bookstore when I heard his voice coming from behind the non-fiction section. (I was highly disappointed when I learned it was a pregnant woman with adult braces, and not my beloved Bruce.)

During my research, I also realized that some people have a talent for recognizing others' cell phone rings in only a few notes. I felt like I was witnessing an episode of Name That Tune while watching a mother of three teenagers distinguish who needed to answer their phone in a local diner. She knew that it was her youngest daughter's Rihanna phone ringtone in fewer than two notes!

So, after hearing all of these clever cell phone rings that have surrounded me, I realize that not only do I have to choose what cell phone service to buy, I also have to worry about choosing a ringtone for me. Shall I pick a classic Beethoven ditty or a more contemporary Kate Perry song? Shall I try out the "sound of rain falling on a car roof" or the bizarre "funny donkey" pre-loaded ring? (Does a funny donkey really have a sound?)

I've contemplated this decision, and have come to a verdict. In order to be distinctive, I'll stick with the vibrate mode. Apparently, everybody else just wants to make noise.

- Becky Munsterer

Becky Munsterer writes daily for the "here today, gone tomorrow" blog, Novel Nibble. She's also the author of two children's books (The Little Rippers and Kat McGee and the School of Christmas Spirit.) She lives in Norwich, Vt., where she actually doesn't have cell phone reception.