Last Friday night, something quite unfortunate happened to me. I was headed back upstairs after going downstairs to pick up the pizza I had ordered. As I was entering the elevator, my phone slipped right out of my hand and headed straight down the elevator shaft. As a young adult in todays world, this was a devastating situation. My friend and I instantly dropped to our knees to peer down the 1 inch wide crack that led to who knows where. We made our way to the front desk where they proceeded to tell me it would be at least Monday before I would catch sight of my phone in my hands again. I then sat the rest of the night thinking about everything I would be missing out on. How horrible it would be to not have my cellular device in my hand from dawn until dusk. All that said, here is how my 4 days without a phone went.
Saturday: This day was my first day without my phone so naturally it was a little strange. I’m not completely phone obsessed but not having it at least with me was an odd feeling that I wasn’t too fond of. I went to breakfast with friends and instantly noticed how much we are effected by our cell phones. They all took a seat and what did they do next? Check their phones. Take a bite, check the phone, take a bite, check the phone. This is how the process worked and sure we had conversation but the large presence of phones on our meal was something I hadn’t noticed myself before. I was no stranger to this as I went through the same routine as them prior to dropping my phone down the abyss that is the elevator shaft. Later in the day I found out I could have possibly not gotten my phone until Wednesday. This was a real blow to the heart but I survived.
Sunday: This day wasn’t as hard as Saturday. By this time I had worked my way around not using my phone. My computer could do almost everything my phone could. I could access social media, iMessage and even take phone calls. It did become a hassle carrying my computer to places in order to carry out these very important tasks, however, I was getting used to not having my phone with me. Honestly, it was nice to not have to make sure I had my phone on me at all times. It was one less thing I had to worry about.
Monday: I would say that Monday brought on one of my only real problems of not having my phone. A major issue I came across was not having an alarm. I am so high tech that I didn’t think to bring an actual alarm clock to college so I was without a way to get me up in the morning. I thought about using my Fitbit which can vibrate but I was unsure if these small vibrations would be enough to get me out of bed. In the end I needed my roommates help with this obstacle. This day went like the other two but without me being able to avoid paying attention in class by getting on social media. So, altogether it probably helped me in the long run.
Tuesday: I received an email from the front desk that I had a package awaiting me. I knew I wasn’t expecting a package from anyone so this could either be one of two things. I would be finally getting my phone back, or I would be getting the crippling news that my phone was not retrievable. I headed down there nervous I would have to spend the full price to buy a new iPhone which is close to seven hundred dollars. This was a price I wasn’t sure I was willing to pay. As I approached the desk and informed them that I had a package, I signed for it, and presented to me was my blessed phone. My eyes lit up and I grasped it in my hand. I had missed the feeling of it and was overcome with relief, there were no cracks and both the camera and screen still functioned properly. I am very lucky but in all honesty, I learned so much about this generation in just a short few days.
As much as I had thought the time I would have without my phone would be strange and difficult for me, they weren’t. I was more focused on what was going on around me rather than what was going on in other peoples worlds through Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Yet, I have become more appreciative of having my phone at the same time. All in all, I believe from here on out I will be using my cell phone a significantly less amount.
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