Some examples of having a bad day can be getting a flat tire in the middle of the Mass Pike without having AAA to rescue you or dropping a bowl of red spaghetti sauce on your nice white shirt. Well I had one of those days yesterday while on the last leg of my vacation in the Pine Tree State, Maine.
Are you ready?
My smartphone went bonkers and bit the dust!
I was supposed to be off the grid for the past few days while spending time in beautiful Maine. However, just like any addict, I was drawn to my smartphone, checking email, the latest Instagram Stories, the Facebook News Feed and review my text messages. Then suddenly, a big bright streak went across my screen and I freaked out. I think everyone on the beach heard me yell out some choice words while covering their child's ears with those Wonder Woman beach blankets.
My phone proceeded to reboot itself and then came back up and then I was able to see part of the screen while the rest of the display was a nice lime green color. I desperately checked my Facebook feed and tried to post my 23 pictures of Maine before my phone called it a day. Luckily I was able to post some nice pictures and check a couple of Instagram stories, then poof... my phone turned a bright red ball of fire!
I had the feeling like I just lost my job and a tree just landed on my new car. My smartphone is useless and what can I do now. It was the Fourth of July, so not sure if my pride and joy can be recovered on this holiday.
By not having my smartphone, it made me realize how dependent we are on them. They give us directions to a park, or can help order our dinner. You can shop online on your phone or talk to someone half a world away for free. You can text someone without hearing their annoying voice. You can be a loner, but yet, you can have thousands of Facebook Friends and Instagram followers. Smartphones allow us to be popular but have no human interaction for days. They are generally the cause of all what is wrong today, and ironically the leading cause of auto and pedestrian accidents today.
I look back to the world before smartphones and even cell phones in general. The days of human interaction since you had no choice. When cold calling was the cutting edge sales technique. When phones had a cord on them connected to a wall or when you had to use a paper map to route your way to the beach. Those were simpler times.
Times when you listened to your music on a CD or cassette tape instead of Spotify and actually watch where you are walking and smiling and saying hi to people on the street. I remembered when I would spend the night calling my friends on the house phone and battle with my family on who can use the phone next. Another decision was what to do on a Friday night in person with people.
Back then, you would call someone on the phone and talk to them about going to a music club with people that had lighters, instead of cell phones, to put in the air when a great rock ballad was played.
Today, it is all about Tinder, Texting and Twitter. The latter (Twitter) is the evil of our president, so you know how far we have come.
So, I am here, with no smartphone until later in the week when my replacement comes in the mail and I am hungry thinking about a pizza.
Let me see where I put that Yellowpages Phone Book so I can order a pizza from the House of Pizza. The last I remember, I thought I used the phone book for something else, like a door stop.
Maybe I will keep the good 'ol YellowPages in a safe place next time, since you never know when your smartphone pulls a freak out on you! Disaster Recovery at its finest.
No comments:
Post a Comment