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Evil little boxes
June 21, 2006
I finally did it. I had been a slave to the thing ever since I got pregnant, and now that Cai is old enough to want to interact-- and run off-- I have edged closer to wanting to be freed from its incessent interruptions. So last week I had my cell phone shut off. Wow is it freeing! I don't miss it at all. Neither does Cai, since now when we go out to play, I actually play with him instead of calling someone to alleviate the "boredom" of having to play with my own son!
I realized that it was becoming a problem for me when my husband rang me up twice and paged me once during my counseling session-- because he needed me to pick up eggs on the way home. I don't need therapy, I thought as I almost threw the darn phone through the window, I need time to think!
As happened when I quit smoking, I now notice how unattractive people look when attached to their electronic leashes. Cai and I went to the wading pool at the park today, and there were half a dozen mothers either ignoring their little children playing in water (sorry, water makes me a paranoid mommy) while yakking on their phones off to the side, or plodding after their little people dutifully while repeatedly answering their phones above the heads of their lonely offspring. I felt so bad for them as my son and I splashed, electronics free, in the cool water.
Plus, my friends and I have more to talk about when we get together, since we haven't said it all already. That's an unexpected bonus.
One mother I mentioned my new found freedom to asked me how I could take the risk of not having a cell phone. What if my car died? I looked at the city surrounding us (certainly no chance of being stranded in the wilderness) and looked back at her. Is that what we've become? A society so afraid of asking to use the phone at a restaurant or gas station that we sit in our locked and sealed broken down cars and wait for AAA or our spouses? How will we teach our children independence, if we have made ourselves helpless?
And most of us with children now grew up without cell phones. We may be the last generation that knows it's possible for the baby sitter to call the movie theater or restaurant in case of emergency.
Based on what I saw today at the park, we may be the last generation that knows it's possible for our parents to just spend time with us-- not the 20 other people a ring tone away.
I feel like an idiot for all the afternoons I spent on the phone near my son instead of playing with him. I am having so much more fun kicking balls and splashing in the pool. Who knew?
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