Recently, due to a flurry of circumstances, I had an experience that few people my age get to enjoy: I was in a public place, alone, without any kind of phone or device on me. I really don’t want to make this out to be more than it was; at most, it was a slightly eye-opening experience. But I really feel like I did see things a bit differently that fateful day, so here is a little inner monologue I like to call, “A Day In The Life Of A 21st Century Homo Sapien With No Phone.”
Prologue: I am really, really, undeniably cursed with technology. I try to be careful, and life happens anyway. So one day, I’m walking with my iPhone 6, Otterbox case and all, and it slips out of my hand onto the ground. Unfazed, I pick it up, only to discover that the glass screen is completely shattered. The glass actually shattered in a design that would’ve been beautiful had it not prevented me from seeing anything on the screen at all. This is like, the 1,000th phone I’ve broken, so I don’t even tell my mom about it until after I’ve made the Apple Store appointment for 4 p.m. at the mall two days later. I’m not someone who likes to be alone; I’m very social, and I had assumed that I would drag my sister along to my Apple Store appointment and we would make a day out of it. As I’m getting ready to leave, I learn that she is at cross country practice. Looks like I’m doin’ this alone.
Scene: the Apple Store at the mall, 4 p.m.
So I’m clutching my shattered phone like a child, wading through a sea of people gawking at overpriced slabs of glass and plastic to get to the tech guys over at the other end of the store. I show him what I’ve done, he laughs at me, and checks my information in. He gets ready to take my phone, and tells me to check back around 7 p.m. I feel like my eyes probably come really close to popping out of my head. Three hours, alone in the mall, with no phone and no friends? “OK, no problem,” I hear myself say uneasily. I bid my most prized possession farewell, hop off the barstool chair, and begin to wander the mall.
Scene: outside the Apple Store, 4:30 p.m.
I’m not even sure where to go. I’ve checked my bag and my pocket for my phone about a thousand times, and find the same sickening panic every time it’s not there. I wonder if my subconscious will re-train itself to not check my phone every thirty seconds. Freud would have a field day if he could study how attached I am to my phone. I am now starting to die inside without any human interaction. Time to find a conversation somewhere.
Scene: inside Urban Outfitters store, 4:45 p.m.
It’s mind-boggling how many people have not looked up from their phones in this store. HOW do you expect to get riled up over a $75 sweater if you can’t even see it? I guess that’s kind of the point of stores like this; overpriced places target people my age because we can’t take the time out of our busy lives to be outraged by overpricing. God, I’m having so many revelations today, I should write a book or something. I feel so enlightened. A man has come up to me and attempted to engage in a conversation about The Strokes with me after seeing me looking at a vinyl in the store. I’m almost acting like a normal person, not making bad puns or referencing any cartoons, just having a casual conversation. I’m also kind of trying to figure out if he works here and is trying to get me to buy this vinyl, or if he is just another music junkie? I try to gage what this guy’s deal is for about a ten-minute conversation, but I fail, and we both move on to better things.
Scene: inside PINK store, 5:30 p.m.
I couldn’t tell you how I ended up here. I’ve wandered in and out of Yankee Candle and Vera Bradley and somehow found myself looking at sale leggings here. Something I’ve noticed is that I am MUCH more open to conversations with strangers today than I normally am; I’ve been talking to a worker here for a while now about getting into different types of exercise after she saw me eyeing up the workout clothes. I’m pretty sure I’ve now convinced her to try the YouTube Pilates I’ve been doing all summer. I know her job is to be nice to me, but she seems pretty genuine in her interest. I’m also in a bit of disbelief that I probably sold her on Pilates more than she’s sold me on the clothes today. I buy a bunch of stuff here anyway.
Scene: Forever21, 5:50 p.m.
This place is terrifying. Hell is probably just a Forever21 store. I wish I could tweet this; gotta remember to do it later (Update: I did). I think I might be going a little bit nuts, being alone for this long; I bought a "Born 2 Boogie" shirt and I fully intend to wear it often and with pride.
Scene: Barnes and Noble, 6 p.m.
Of COURSE I ended up in a bookstore. I really don’t know how I always end up near books. I have about eight founding father biographies weighing down my spaghetti arms right now, and need to plop down on the floor in the history section before I buckle under the weight of the paper. Even here, in a place where you can find people of real substance, I see so many people on their phones. I’ve started reaching for my own less and less. I keep forgetting it’s gone. I’m overhearing a kid, roughly ten years old, absolutely SCHOOLING a guy about my age on the mechanics of different Star Wars travel vehicles. I have so much hope for the future generations right now.
Scene: mall food court, 6:55 p.m.
The mall is a weird place. There are probably thousands of people here, all gathered for the same purpose, and yet people are so unfriendly. Maybe it’s come from working in restaurants all through high school and during my summers at home, but it’s kind of second nature to me to smile when I make eye contact with a stranger. Apparently, this is not a common courtesy. I’ve started taking notice of roughly how many people smile back when I make eye contact, and roughly how many give me stink eyes. The stink eyes are winning. I go up to the smoothie stand and ask the woman working there what time it is; when she tells me my spirits leap up with joy – it’s time to reunite with my other half!
Scene: outside the mall 7:07 p.m.
My phone is buzzing happily, and I’m catching up on what I missed during my tech hiatus today. I’m reflecting on my day while walking to my car. Overall, I felt much more observant and mentally active today. Without my phone distracting me, I noticed more, felt more, saw more. I was much more outgoing and friendly; I would have never stopped to talk to anyone had I been glued to a screen like I normally am. I don’t know if I would ever voluntarily put myself in the same situation again, but it was nice to experience true solitude today. As I’m thinking to myself, my newly whole and beautiful phone slips out of my hand again, and clatters to the ground with a dull clang.
