I Forgot My Phone At Home And, Unfortunately, The World Did NOT Come To An End
By the messy optimist
Also published at The Writers’ Blokke:
So…I forgot my phone at home when I went to visit a friend a few weeks back and since there was no one at home…I couldn’t ask someone to bring it to me. Also, I was out for a whole day thing and I wouldn’t be back till late evening.
So, yes. I went an ENTIRE day without my phone.
My smart phone. AKA, my lifeline, my dearest and best partner above all else, my entertainment buddy, my e-reader and my savior from unwanted advances from people (those who try to pick me up or I think they’re trying to pick me up because, you know, I’m so f…ing full of myself OR from those who just want to make polite chit chat).
Look…I’m no phone junkie (like, AT ALL) but a significant part of one’s work and personal life revolves around a smart phone these days. That’s a fact…so you can just f…ing deal.
So, all day, I was restless, on tenterhooks. I vacillated between ‘living in the moment’ and worrying about so many important calls/messages I was probably missing.
Maybe the supreme ruler of my country (He Who Cannot and Should Not and Will Not Be Named) might’ve called asking for help dealing with, ‘How to make India the next superpower?”
Maybe the opposition leader (whose nickname rhymes with ‘jappu’) called asking for help on how to ‘make a comeback in 2023?’ Not that I know ANYTHING about election strategies but so what if I think that I know about everything about everything and think that my opinions will make a profound impact on the world and the democratic process itself?
Maybe I finally made some money from my blog? Maybe being an Amazon Associate would finally pay off — FOR ME and not for Jeff Bezos?
Maybe the editor of some publishing house called to give me a book deal?
Maybe one of the stories I sent to some 700 online and offline competitions won…something?
After spending over eight uneasy and restive hours without my trusted ally — when my work for the day was done I rushed back. When I finally got home, I ran to my bedroom and took my beloved off of the charger where she’d been juicing up the whole day.
When I felt the familiar weight of the instrument and the chill from the machine seeped through my right hand…I sighed in relief. Oh, it felt good to hold my dearest back in the palm of my hand.
And when I swiped up I was SO SATISFIED to see 7 missed calls and 22 messages.
YESSS! I knew it. I knew I wasn’t some deadbeat loser. I was missed. Not a 1 call/2 messages missed but 7 calls and 22 messages missed. I meant something to the world. My absence from my phone significantly affected the universe.
I quickly checked to see the catastrophe I’d wreaked with my absence from my phone.
One phone call was from my friend I had JUST SPENT THE ENTIRE DAY WITH calling to make sure I got home safe.
The other six were all junk calls.
And all F…KING 22 messages were from my phone company reminding me ‘my bill was due on Tuesday.’
