On life without a telephone

If you read my last couple of posts, you will know that I am currently without a working mobile telephone.  It could be two weeks before mine is repaired and unless the battery on the old phone I keep for emergencies suddenly comes to life, or someone is kind enough to lend me an O2 compatible handset then I am going to have to get used to it.

In some ways I am actually looking forward to it and view it as a sort of social experiment.*  Ironically enough, I have just had a week without my phone because I decided it would do me good to leave it in ‘Offline Mode’ whilst I was on holiday.  This was surprisingly easy when I was out of the country without much of a care in the world, but back in the real world things could be a bit more difficult. Especially since I now know that some texts sent to me whilst I was away never got delivered.  I know that if someone really wants to get hold of me they will find another way, but it has created a bit of a nagging feeling that I might miss something.**

Of course, some say that we always used to manage without mobiles so it should be quite easy.  But now we have a culture where it’s not unusual to say “I’ll give you a buzz when I’m in town at about 10ish” rather than “I’ll meet you for coffee in Starbucks at 10.”  Or “I’ll text you later when I know where I’m going to be.”  Making plans in advance seems to be quite retro these days, and even in the last 24h I’ve felt like a burden pushing for definite arrangements ahead of time.  Mind you, the fact that I can no longer rely on my phone to inform someone I am running a few minutes late has got to be good for my punctuality…

Anyway I’ll let you know how I get on now that this inadvertent experiment is underway.  Watch this space.

 

*if I was a journalist I’d get paid for this. Donations gratefully received.

**I should probably just get over myself.

 

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