The Cell Phone Sabatacle

About two months ago, I lost my phone. My iPhone. In other words, my whole life. I was on a date - I had one too many cocktails, and I left it in a cab. At the time, I was too intoxicated to try to worry about it. Plus, I had to use my date's phone to make headway on the situation, and this was my first time out with this guy. I decided I could track it in the morning, call the driver, do the clean-up, and go on with my life.
Not the case. I tried calling the driver, I tried to GPS track it, all the normal things you do.
It seemed as if my phone had gone to the wolves. Lost forever in the abyss of someone's floorboards or the next passenger's purse.
I am not typically a careless person. I am the kind of person who uses a Chapstick until it's entirely gone before I lose it, because I always put it back in the same place. I try to have my shit together, if I can help it. In light of this, I was so mad at myself for doing something so out of character and so inconvenient and unfixable! I bought that phone earlier this year for $300 on Craigslist. I couldn't spare that kind of money right after moving across the country, and right before Christmas.
I decided to punish myself, and teach myself a lesson. For some undetermined amount of time, I would do without a cell phone. I would use actual maps, pay phones, go to the public library to check my emails and do other things that required an Internet connection, and spend my evenings reading books and newspaper articles, drawing, and playing games with my roommates.
And that's exactly what I did. I made a conscious effort to stay connected, to observe the world around me, and to acclimate to a new lifestyle without the ole cell-y phone.
This is what happened:
- I was bored. A lot.
- I missed my friends terribly.
- I stayed in a lot. I took a lot of baths. Not only was it cold outside, but getting anywhere that was unfamiliar to me meant I had to ask people for directions. Strangers. I think I'll just stay in.
- I read lots of things, and journaled. I starting journaling in a way that I never have before, a way that allows me to actually write about things I've done and seen as of late.
- I rode the train when I was bored. Once, when I didn't want to go home, I just... Stayed on the train. I rode it till the last stop... and still stayed on the train. I rode it all the way back to my stop again, and then went home.
- I found out that if you sit in the first car, in the front seat, you get an amazing view. I never sit anywhere else now, if I can help it.
- I learned how to play Crazy Eights and Spades. I invited people over, but instead of saying "I'll text you later and we'll make plans," I said, "I'll be home around 7, here's my address, come over anytime after 7:30." And they did.
- I purchased a planner, wrote my work schedule down, manually wrote down my friends' names, their phone numbers, addresses.
- I sent people letters. Actual, snail-mail, letters.
- I talked to strangers... And yes, asked for directions.
- I used a homeless guy's phone to call a cab... and gave him $5 for it.
- I was inconvenienced often, and I inconvenienced my roommates and friends when I had to use their phones to make dinner plans, get a ride somewhere, etc.

I finally gave up and went down to Walmart and bought a flip phone. I called my best friends. Aimee, Kelly, Mayra, Joe, my dad. I was so focused on how I had been off the grid that I forgot that these people had lives, too. They all had stuff that had been happening while I was out of touch. They caught me up on their lives, and I was plenty happy with that.
Of course, my dad told me once again that he was proud of me but still not totally okay with the idea of me being way out here. My friend Aimee told me, repeatedly, to please be careful. Be safe. Then there's Kelly... She just wanted the juicy details on the social scene out here.

I am reminded that I don't have to be off the grid to pay attention and be connected to what's going on around me. Now, I try to have a good balance. Modern technology is a wonderful tool, and it feels good to be able to call the people I care about. Although I have made friends here, I felt a lack of human connection when I could no longer call up the people who've known me for a long time, and hear their familiar voice. Sappy shtuff. I'm making an effort to be a good friend, both long-distance and in-person, and to challenge myself in new ways.