Ok, that is a little dramatic. But something terrible, awful happened to me today… I dropped my phone in the toilet (luckily before I used it), and it DIED on the spot. No bringing it back… no resuscitation… just simply no more phone. My heart sank the minute it happened. This is not the first time I have done this with a phone (word to the wise: phones can easily fall out of pockets), so I knew it was over. I was at work with no means of communication to the outside world! Okay, that is a lie—I teach Computer Discovery… I have computers in my face all day. I emailed Nathan immediately… But no INSTANT means of communication. What am I supposed to do if a student is going crazy in my room and I need to call the principal? Or what if something happens and I need to call the police? Or what if my car breaks down on the way home from work? How long will it be before I can get a new phone? My poor 5th period class did not get much of my attention because I was focused on one thing and one thing only… these obsessive thoughts of mine.
Normally on my way home from school, I am on the phone. Without fail, Nathan, my mom, and my sister will call me to ask how my day has gone (which I love and appreciate). Today, however, I was left to just think. I started thinking about what life was like 10 years ago (ONLY 10 years ago). Some people MAY have owned a cell phone, but most people did not. Most households had a little thing called LANDLINES! We talked on a phone connected to a wall (or at very least within a 2 ft radius of our home). How did we get by?? We got by because that is all we knew. I then started to realize how ridiculous I was being over this stupid phone! Am I putting too much focus on this piece of technology? The answer is yes. God has funny ways of getting a point across sometimes!
Despite my mishap today, I did not die. In fact, no one died as a result of my lifeless phone. I am not saying cell phones are bad. They are very convenient and might even save a life in some cases (and yet in some cases take lives—i.e. texting while driving!! but that is another topic for another day). I am not someone who is always talking on the phone, but I do rely on it for a lot. I just hope from now on, I will be able to put it in perspective.
There was life before cell phones and life goes on without them :)
