Even though I have spent over half my life without one, not remembering to grab my cell phone off my dresser this morning has left me with a feeling of mild anxiety.
I am also annoyed with myself and at the fact that I won’t be able to use my phone to text the friends I am meeting up with after work. I am annoyed that I can’t see any new emails with just one swipe of my finger, annoyed that I won’t be watching any episodes of Chopped later today as I do boring data entry. I feel like I have lost a connection to the outside world. I feel partially isolated even as I am surrounded by numerous co-workers.
I am also mildly annoyed that not having my cell phone with me gives me a twinge of anxiety. It’s not like I will die without it. Half the time I have it I ignore it. It’s just losing the options that the cell phone allows seems like a downgrade and I don’t like downgrades. I wish I had memorized more than just my husband’s phone number. Thank goodness for email still having saved contacts that can be accessed via the internet.
When did we lose our ability to function, anxiety-free, without our phones?
dobetteralways 
Funny how quickly we all became dependent on our cell phones! I know what you mean – same feeling when my phone battery dies.
For me I feel it is equal parts disturbing and hilarious that technology has such a hold on me.
Always good to be able to laugh at oneself 🙂
I don’t rely on my phone as much as most people I know, but when I forget my phone I get a bit of anxiety as well. You do feel cut off from the world outside your immediate proximity. I think back on the 80’s and 90’s when I promoted bicycle races and would organize volunteers and police services, get permits, and distribute promotional material and without email or a cell phone. Seems incredible these days.
It really does, because even if you maintain your ability to use nothing more than word of mouth, fliers and landline phone calls to get something organized, would the kids nowadays know how to, or feel comfortable utilizing, the information that way?
Kids today can’t deal with that. My wife had a student who was shocked to learn that in the old days “cc” was a physical cartooned copied piece of paper. I had some architecture students do some field work, and they didn’t know how to use paper floor plans and refused to take notes by hand on note pads. I had to put everything on iPads for them. Now I’m forcing all evaluators to use iPads. The older folks don’t like the all electronic approach.
allow me to solve your anxiety (lol-i would feel the same way..) Your friends will all know you are thinking of them and you will meet up with those that you are “in tune” with, on Chopped- the one you with the crazy hair and sad story will win (amongst jellybeans, swiss chard and monkey meat), and your anxiety will be relieved as soon as you give your SELF the same power you gave your phone. the outside world will let you know if they need you today. enjoy a break from the electrons!!! Rock it anyway!!
Thank you! I managed to get by just fine without it and even reminded myself of some old tricks I used to employ back before the days of interent on phones. It was kind of refreshing to be a bit unplugged for the day.
I definitely resonate with what you are saying. Last month I thought I had locked myself out of the house. No keys, no cell phone. I realized that there is no longer a person on the face of this earth whose phone number I know. All have changed to cell numbers that I have never had any reason to learn. Was very strange and uncomfortable realization. Luckily it turned out I wasn’t locked out after all.
It’s funny how a simple event like that can really make us stop and think about how different life is from even a decade ago.
I so commiserate! I don’t rely on my phone as much as some do but I find myself a bit lost without it. I’m working on stopping that. I deliberately leave it at home sometimes when I head out for work or errands. If nothing else, those times are a reminder that I can and will survive without the phone. 😉
It’s a good habit to get into.