Tech-no-logical Blues

Today I abandoned my cell phone at home. Unintentionally. Realised in the bus, but didn't seem worth the effort of going back for it. For a moment, felt like I left a vital body part back home - like my brain :)

Set me thinking: how did we ever have a life without cell phones? Till only a few years ago, we managed, didn't we? We survived without being at the beck and call of the rest of the world. We survived without being available every second. We survived without text messages and voice mail. Somebody wanting to get in touch with us would call on the landline or wait till we got home; and we all led a less rushed life happily. I'm not complaining about cell phones - it's a miracle; but perhaps my life would be a little less stressed out if I didn't have a cell phone - my office would not be part of my home on weekends and holidays, my mum would not be able to call and find out where I was :) and I would not have to delete annoying spam from strange people...

But honestly, the advantages far outweigh the little inconveniences. I can always switch it off on weekends or put it in 'silent' mode and pretend that I never received a call. I can send little messages to Mr.R on the other end of the planet anytime I like. I can keep in touch with friends for no reason at all - a little message to say hello is enough.. and it's a life saver in emergencies, like mum calling me on the way back home and says "bring a bread!" - that way she doesn't have to go out and it saves me the trouble of going home and going out again...

So you see, whoever invented this itty-bitty thing knew she had a good idea..similarly for email.

Being without a cell phone for a day doesn't seem as disastrous now, a few hours later. People who need to call me know my office/residence numbers, email address and telepathy link. If there's really something that important or urgent, someone will find a way to get in touch with me, and such situations rarely happen, so there...I can breathe easy now :)

Once upon a time we were just plain people. But that was before we began having relationships with mechanical systems. Get involved with a machine and sooner or later you are reduced to a factor (Ellen Goodman)