Friday, March 4, 2016

Of Loss and Weightlessness

Like most of us, I tend to use my phone to hold a lot of information that would take too much time and effort to remember. Well, my phone decided that yesterday would be a good time to just turn off and refuse to turn back on. This morning I tried to turn it on, but this attempt to get it to work was just as useless as the first five. I felt so lost this morning; not only are all my alarms on my cell phone, but so is my calendar, my schedule, half of my login information for social media, and, not to mention, all the contacts I never took the time to memorize. Losing all of these things made me realize that I don’t put in half the effort to remember what seems like day-to-day things like my schedule or the numbers that I text and call.

Although I recognize that phones are useful for storing information for us, as well as helping us keep up with schoolwork and life, I feel that this is something we all struggle with in this age of technology, because we think “Oh, it’s fine. I don’t have to remember this, because my phone will do it for me.” But the thing is, what if your phone gets lost, broken, or stolen, like what I experienced yesterday? The loss of a phone would make most of us feel stranded, not to mention vulnerable. I’ve gotten used to it after a few hours, but still, the almost overwhelming feeling of something being out of place is very unnerving. 

5 comments:

  1. Honestly, I have only ever memorized five phone numbers ever in my life time. The first number I ever learned was my grandmothers home phone number. I learned her phone number before I even learned my own home phone number. The next phone number I memorized was actually my home phone number. The next few numbers I memorized were my mom,my dad, and my cell phone numbers. But other than that, I wouldn't know any of my friends or family members phone numbers. I would be lost.

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  2. The same thing happened to me a couple months ago before I got my new phone. Every couple weeks my phone would just shut off for a day or so and I couldn't do anything to get it back on. I felt just as lost as I'm sure you do now because all of my information was lost for that day. When I think about it now, maybe not having a phone for a day isn't so bad. You can get a lot of work done and not have to be worried about anyone but yourself.

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  3. I understand how you feel! Even if my phone is just out of battery I tend to feel very out of it and like something's missing. I understand the vulnerability that comes with having a dysfunctional phone, especially as a woman. Phones offer a connection to others when we feel unsafe or uncomfortable, so losing one feels like you're going into a gunfight with a switchblade, so to speak.

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  4. My phone is the thing that wakes me up for school as it is the last thing I look at before bed. Without it my schedule would be entirely messed up. It makes everyday life much easier, and if I lost mine, I would feel just as lost as you.

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  5. I always freak out when I don't have my phone in my pocket. It makes keeping in touch with my friends and family easy, and it lets me have access to all of the information that I desire.

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