I went to the mall for my lunch break, like I usually do. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was craving Subway. So I went, I ordered my food, ate, and considered what I would do with the remaining time I had before I had to go back to work.
First priority: go to the restroom. I found the ladies’ restroom, selected a stall, and locked it. Needless to say, I had forgotten my cell phone was in my back pocket.
PLOP.
A wave of terror washed over me. Oh no….
I quickly retrieved my phone, dried it off as best I could, pulled out the battery and dried that, and then turned it back on.
Nothing. It was too late. My beloved companion of probably a year was dead. I quickly thought of getting a bag of rice (submerging a waterlogged phone in rice draws out the moisture), but there wasn’t time. I had to go back to the work. When I finally would be able to purchase a bag, it would probably far too late.
It’s now been a full 48 hours since I’ve been without a phone. I didn’t realize how much I needed my phone, and at the same time, how much I didn’t need it. Sure, it would be nice to be able to text my friends, use my GPS, check Facebook, or take a picture of something cool I found, but you also start to realize what a distraction cell phones are, or how much they can get in the way. I spoke to my friends in person more often. I grew more self-reliant when it came to waking myself up or spending money.
I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say that I’ve been “enlightened” and will never use a cell phone again, or that I was happy my phone was gone. I actually spent an hour in the Sprint store trying to purchase a new phone. But my little time away from my cell phone made me realize how reliant my generation is on them. We use them for practically everything. It was actually a couple weeks ago that a professor of mine was talking about it. He asked us all if we could go a day without our phones… and sadly, many of my fellow students admitted they couldn’t myself included. I know now that the world keeps spinning and life as I know it does not end if I don’t have a phone in my hand to keep me connected to everything. I also know that phones are good. We are more connected as a society now due to technology. More opportunities to connect with people around the world are at our very fingertips. But it is nice, every now and again, to set the phone down and go out and spend time with the people you love or do the things you enjoy most. Technology cannot replace the experiencing of life – that is something we must do for ourselves.
