A few Saturdays ago my mobile phone broke down. There was no huge moment – I didn’t drop it on the floor with a huge bang – ..it was charging away and met a peaceful end by itself. My reaction ? Somewhat less peaceful. The second I acknowledged that that thing wasn’t coming back on, began a frantic frenzy of battery removal, sim removal, google searches – anything that would get it powered back on and my life back to normal. How can the person who has a charger in the office, a charger at home, a charger in the car and two portable chargers in her every day Pliage handbag survive otherwise?
My phone, however, had other ideas and my attempts to start it up, though noble were resolutely futile.
This incident took place Saturday afternoon at 4 pm – not a great time since Saturdays are followed by Sundays. I was on my way out to a meeting followed by one birthday party, followed by another birthday party, supposedly ending the night by picking the hubby up at the airport. ‘I can do this’, I told myself, ‘I will simply take my tablet out and try and obtain wifi wherever I can’.
First meeting was fine. I then drove to the first birthday party. The minute I arrived, it dawned on me that whilst I had a general idea, I didn’t know exactly where it was. ‘I’ll meet someone who knows’ I hoped. Reality – ok let’s beg for wifi at this restaurant.
Right, arrive at the party stay a while and then ask the host for wifi to connect to some sort of social media and ask directions for the next event – can’t call them because I have no phone and ofc I don’t remember their numbers off by heart, who does that these days.
Arrival at next event is all smooth as I meet a friend parking right next to me. Leaving the event is a lot less smooth since I somehow get lost and have no GPS to look at. Running around Zebbug’s quiet roads at midnight looking for a car is a lot less fun than it sounds.
I somehow manage to find my car, pick the hubby up on time and get him home. However, he also fails to revive my phone and I remain a phoneless person. Setting a wake-up alarm for the next day becomes interesting until I realise I can use a tablet.
The next morning starts off with a photo shoot. I know the location but it has multiple entrances and seems like I still haven’t got the hang of this new concept of checking out the exact location before I leave the house – I wait for 15 minutes outside the wrong location. At one point later during the day I spot a phonebox and say ‘seee there is hope for mobile-less individuals, I can call using money’ . I bounce excitedly to use this red novelty, coins in hand. Looks like you need a telecard – what is that now ?
48 hrs later, I’ve got another phone and I feel whole again but this episode has made me acknowledge my extreme dependence on a mobile. It wasn’t always like this, after all, I got my first mobile when I was about 16 years old. I survived before then. I got to places, met up with friends, found my way to their houses and all the rest. So what is it now? I spouted out nonsense like being scared to drive without a mobile to justify my extreme bad mood but the reality is, I felt like less of a person without my phone. I felt lost – and that in itself might be a little bit scary.
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