Saturday, September 26, 2009

There Was Life Before My Blackberry?!?!

My parents divorced shortly before my 15th birthday.  Upon the finalization of the divorce, Dad and Baby Brother moved to Chicago.  It sucked.

When I turned 16, my parents agreed that the best way for me to visit my dad and brother would be for me to drive there.  On my own. I wasn't even allowed to drive across the Minnesota River into Minneapolis (see "If you could change one rule your parents have for you, what would it be?"), but Chicago, here I came!

After much discussion, my parents decided that I needed some type of communication outlet in my car in case of an emergency.  After ruling out a CB radio (something about seedy semi-truck drivers and a 16 year-old, I dunno...), my mom and dad decided to venture into the new technology of...  Wait for it...  Wait for it...

CAR PHONES!!!!  (How cool is that!  At that point in my life, the only car phone I had ever seen was the one Punjab talked on in Daddy Warbucks' car when they were trying to rescue Annie from Rooster and Mrs. Hannigan!)  It looked something like this...

I know!  Cool, right!!!

Anyway, as time has passed, car phones have become obsolete.  And my inner snob required newer, greater, and cooler mobile communication methods.  After the car phone came the brick phone, then the flip phone, then (gasp) TEXT MESSAGING!  And from text messaging we've moved to having internet on our phones!! 

I've come to a sad realization.  If I spent more than a half hour away from my phone, I feel out of touch.  How on Earth did we survive before Blackberry?  Before text messaging?  Before cell phones?  And even before voice mail and answering machines?

Is there a cure for this addiction?  Will I ever be able to leave home without my phone and not panic?  I'd like to say I hope, but really, I'm not so hopeful.

5 comments:

Dame Nuisance said...

They say the first step is admitting you have a problem ... ;-P Just stopping by from SITS - happy Saturday Sharefest!

Anonymous said...

LOL.... so true. Was reading a story to my daughter the other night, and it made reference to a phone (of the rotary kind).... wow.
She asked "what's that".
"It's a phone"
"Really, it doesn't look like a phone. Where are the buttons"...
I instantly felt old.

Great post!!!!

Michele

Urban Mom said...

It's so true. If I leave the house without my phone, I feel utterly cut off from the world. Now keep in mind, that this is while OUT IN the world. It's a paradox that distracts me more while driving than talking on the phone.

Amanda {My Life Badly Written} said...

I hate to be without my phone! If I forget it when going out I am plagued all night with thoughts of "What if's??" and it completely ruins my night!! Sad sad sad!!

KristinFilut said...

@SES Thanks for swinging by, and commenting! Lots of SITStaly love!

@Michele I know!!! The Girl asked me the other day what an answering machine was.

@Urban Mom It has at times consumed my concentration when it shouldn't. I totally agree.

@Amanda Honestly, it's a wonder we survived P.C. (pre cellphone)

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