Call me...well maybe not..

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To the mild annoyance of my friends, the surprise of acquaintances and to the extreme consternation of my parents, I have effectively not had a cellphone (or any other phone) for the last 3 months.

Why this condition still persists is hard to explain, but the answer certainly includes my incredible laziness and a sudden determination to believe that fixing a hardware device by oneself is within reach (even ordered batteries and phone screws online.)
But the experience made me realize a few things:
  • how disconnected an existence it's possible for me to lead, and how there are aspects of it I've actually like
  • how easy it is to substitute my phone with other technology (how do you pronounce Skype?)
  • and how easy it is to just ask people for their phones
Sure, people think its a little weird that I never give them my number and say that I'll call them, but they get used to it fast. The inconvenience is balanced by the fact that I now have a genuine reason to avoid so many interrupting interactions.


There were just three times that I've been seriously frustrated and actually missed having a phone:
  • once when I was alone looking for a restaurant where I was supposed to meet friends, and didn't have a way to call anyone once I realized (after getting there) that I had the wrong address.
  • the second when I had call a GSB alum for a project that I was working on and ended up calling him from three different phones (yeah, he thought it was a little weird)
  • and finally my mom was really annoyed that she couldn't get to me, particularly wince my dad was traveling at the time.
Oh well, Verizon tells me the replacement phone is on the way so the self-inflicted experiment ends soon!

Comments

shmoo said…
I got my first mobile phone in July 2005.
10:36 PM
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