Seeing how today, cell phones are like a third ear protruding from ones head, I wanted to kick it old school. Therefore, I decided to go 30 days without the alien protrusion. How hard could it be? I grew up with out constant connection, can you hear me WHAT, GPS and facespace. I am from the era of “where’s the beef” and “what you talking about Willis.” Thinking that this was going to be easy, I also decided to not replace any items that I used my cell phone for, such as, a clock/watch, GPS, or any form of mobile communication.
The first week went very smooth, I was in a coma. I didn’t forewarn my wife that she too would be going 30 days without a cell phone and let’s just say, I should have ducked instead of weave. We still had a house phone and Internet, so connecting with family and friends was no problem. Out on an assignment, I did get a little lost and wish I had the GPS. In the end, it all worked out and I felt more like a navigator opposed to a drone driver. The fun of the road trip came back and it all became exciting again. Instead of constantly looking at some screen wondering if I was going the right direction, I was looking out my windows at the world that commonly passed me by.
Since I consciously decided to pick September as the month to go unconnected, I knew I had a birthday and anniversary to arrange for. Yente the matchmaker, aka, Nicole from my wife’s office was blessed with shipping and receiving all our plans and yuck talk. She was supportive at the beginning, some even say brave but none could have predicted her psychotic breakdown. I guess we all have our limits. She mumbles a lot now but I think she will be ok.
Shopping for a please forgive me gift for my wife, I realized my shopping experience was different as well. I was interacting with people more. My cell phone did not distract me therefore; I was drawn in to conversations with random strangers. My head was up and I was looking around. I was happy. This is when I met Tammy, a very energetic, up beat enthusiastic sales lady who was complaining about her broken cell phone. It had been in outer space for a few days and she was in a foamed mouth frenzy. Her husband, Tom, was trying to remedy the problem for her and showed up while I was there. They are from a few generations before me, more like the rotary phone, horse and buggy time era, so I decided to share with them my latest experiment. They were both excited about it. There is no way I could ever, was the general response I got but they both understood the point and shared some fond life stories with me. This would never have happened if I had a cell phone. I would have been to busy plucking away at the keys to even notice them.
With the 30 days over, I find myself intentionally turning off or leaving my cell phone at home. I think there should be a no cell phone holiday, at least once a week. I even think my wife is a fan or it might just be that the very large, bright, shiny forgive me gift on her finger is starting to fade.