a little and a lot

Friday, April 20, 2007

The Land Before Time

So I have been a bit incommunicato lately, and not just on the blogging front.

Several weekends ago, Nick and I made a trip to Montgomery to speak at separate guys' and girls' retreats. It was so much fun! We drove down a day early to hang out with one of my very best friends and her husband (shout-out to Kristy & Patrick...holla!), and we had a great time on our retreats.

While on the retreat, I used my trusty magenta razr as my alarm clock. (I am not misspelling "razor," by the way...although I do feel stupid spelling it "razr." It is so "kewl," "dawg.") Anyways, the point is that I left my magenta razr on the nightstand by my bed at the lakehouse we were using. For two weeks, I have been here in Memphis, and poor magenta razr has been waking up at 7am each morning at Lake Martin in Alabama.

This has thrown me into the age of BCP. ("Before Cell Phones") Do you remember this world? Sure, you might remember the Zack Morris cell phones 10+ years back, but this was still before the actual age of cell phones. Back then, you didn't deliberate on what ring tones to use. You didn't wonder if so-and-so was using Tmobile too so the minutes wouldn't "count." You didn't cancel your landline and exist fully on those little credit-card-sized pieces of plastic/metal that flipped or slid open. But now, you do. (And if you don't...well, let me welcome you to the 21st century!)

For me, this era began my junior year in college. Before then, cell phones were what you carried in case your car broke down. They were the size of a loaf of bread. (I remember getting in major curfew trouble because I didn't want to carry the loaf-of-bread cell phone that my parents offered me because it would require carrying a large purse in which to put it and I hated purses in high school...so therefore, I forgot to call my parents on the aforementioned cell phone to tell them when I would be home and henceforth was sentenced to several months of a 9pm curfew. I'm sure you cared about all of that, right?) Anyways, in my junior year at Auburn (circa 2000), I proudly carried my slightly-larger-than-a-harmonica-sized cell phone with me all over campus. My roomates and I had bravely opted to exist SOLELY on our cell phones. Were we crazy? No...just modern.

To this day, Nick and I shun the solicitor-stalking landlines and rely on our own mobile phones (and cable internet) to communicate.

This poses my current problem. I now have NO PHONE LINE! I am thrown back into the BCP world! My discomfort and annoyance with this is ironic, because I actually HATE talking on the phone. You would assume I would be loving my current situation, right? Not so much. Here are some reasons why being without my cell phone has annoyed me (I admit that most of them are funny!):
  • When I forget something on the way to work, I can't call Nick while I'm driving. I have to wait until I get to my office phone.
  • When I think of something I want to tell Nick on the way home or want to let him know I'm on my way, I have no means to do so. I just simply have to wait until I get home.
  • I can't call my friends whom Nick doesn't have numbers for in his own phone because I haven't memorized anyone's number.
  • When telling someone to call me, I have to give them Nick's number. Which is not very useful when they call, because he's been at the library all week writing a paper.
  • Speaking of Nick being at the library...When I get home and he's still there, I can't call and ask him when he's coming home and when he wants dinner. I have to get on gmail and see if he is on gmail too, and if he is, we have a little im chat about it! aughhh!
  • When I get lost when I'm driving, I can't let the person I'm meeting know I'll be late and I am also unable to call and ask for directions.
Those are just a handful of annoyances. The common theme is that I am not able to do something or talk to someone at my own whims. I have had to be much more intentional with my thinking and actions. I hadn't realized until now that my cell was used more for convenience and efficiency than for communication!

I think of myself as someone who lives simply (though sometimes out of financial need, I must admit). We don't have a dishwasher. We don't have cable television. We don't have central air-conditioning. Each of us have nearly 10-year-old vehicles that run just fine with perhaps a few quirks. I don't own china dishes. My iPod still has the black and white screen (gasp!!)...haha!

It's pretty inconvenient to live without a dishwasher, but hey, I've done it for 5 years. But take away my cell phone? My iPod (and Bose speakers)? My Macbook and cable internet? My Tivo??!! (No!! Please!! I'll do anything!)

It's quite an eye-opener to learn what luxuries I do so heavily rely on. Technology has progressed so much that I have hardly paid attention!

What about you? What is YOUR most treasured luxury or piece of technology?

7 comments:

Julie said...

I know the feeling.

I often think about what I would get in a fire and I know wedding album, keepsakes, blah blah. But REALLY my heart would be crushed if Jack the eMac and Mellow Yellow the iPod and Trusty Tivo didn't make it out with me.

So good to be with you this weekend.

HAWAII 09!!!!

Larissa Smith said...

You crack me up. Actually, I'll see your loaf of bread and raise you a dictionary. That was closer to the size of the bag phone (cell phone wasn't even close to the right name for it) that I had in my car in high school. Actually, it was wider than a dictionary, but that was the closest thing I could think of. Read way too big. I actually prided myself on not getting a cell phone until 2004, right before we moved to Memphis. Then I kept that one for three years. Plus, our first apartment had no dishwasher, washing machine or dryer, and the kitchen was a joke. I feel you on the "what i survived without" sentiment.

That said, I would say that the internet is the thing I notice most when it is unavailable. Phone, whatever. TV, yeah ok. Can't check email or blogs?! What?!! Fix it! Fix it now!

lee said...

It was Grandma's phone that was
loaf size; your curfew zapper was
equivalent to a payday candy bar...

Blessed said...

This post cracks me up, Jesse! I am with you, Julie, and Larissa. I couldn't live without my Mac, internet, or Tivo. I love my ipod, but could live without it. And, I remember my first "emergency" cell phone too! I think it was as big as the one Larissa was describing! I don't remember even using it. It just sat there "in case."

Tesney said...

I'm with everyone else...laptop, cell phone, & DVR!

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

yes, i do remember the loaf of bread days all too well. and shout out to myself, for cooking for you. ;)

amber said...

Just a few short months ago my mother-in-law was still sporting a bag phone in her car! She wishes she still had it, although her phone company told her they could no longer cover it... I wonder why? It only cost like $1 a month!


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