Thump is the sound of my heart as my cell phone reads goodbye and I secretly wave without drawing any attention to myself.
“I am unplugged,” I think to myself.
As the class ends I find that I am still holding my phone in my hand as though it is going to ring, but unfortunately it can’t. I decide to abandon my phone into my purse.
“Ah dang it is raining”, I say to myself as I walk to the exit door. “To hell with it!” I shout as I scurry to my car.
I am somewhat relieved that it is raining because as a young girl my mother always turned the radio off while driving to listen for the rain. This is a habit that I also have. I will be able to drive to work with the radio off and remain unplugged.
Pay attention to how this story is being told my blog is going to continue on with just about every out burst and near panic attacks that I have for the twenty-four hour period. The only thing this horror film is missing is a great soundtrack. Let’s call this break the intermission.
Now I am arriving at work it has been thirty-minutes and I have not t noticed my phone until I gathered my items to take inside: Name badge, chap stick, chewing gum, and phone.
“Pause… wait no phone, I say as I place it back into my purse, You can stay right here”
Upon arrival I remember that I forgot to do something that required the use of my cell phone.
“Pam! Do me a favor I need you to text my mother Happy Birthday from your phone and make sure to tell her it is from me”
She responds “Sure…but what is wrong with your phone”
I frown at her in a dramatic tone I say “It is DEAD to me for the next twenty-four hours”.
It is safe to say that my day is only getting worse by the minute. Assuming that I would be at work all day I would not be distracted by the thought of having my cellphone off. Sadly I was mistaken. Terror struck when my manager told me I had toomany hours on the books and “we gotta send you home early”.
“Noooo!” the little voice in the back of my head is screeching, but my mouth is saying “Ok!”
I am at the four hour mark, and I have nothing but time on my hands. So out of sheer boredom I to take a nice long nap. By long I mean an hour and a half. As my head rises from the pillow my hand reaches for the phone and presses the unlock button, but luckily it was still off and the screen remained blank.
A.J. Jacobs mentions in his article how multitasking really took away from his day to day activities and how he struggled with not being stimulated because he was unitasking. I personally believe that is great and good for him, but what about someone like me who is completely shut off from the world. Now that I am done venting let us continue with this horror film.
Hour seven is slowly approaching as I watch the clock we have just finished singing Happy Birthday to my mom. I did not take any picture because that would have required me to use my digital camera, but my younger sister kindly did it for me. I am lurking and wandering around the house at this point and I do not under stand why.
“Where are you going?” my sister called out
“To my phone… I mean my room”.
I can not explain how the word phone flopped out of my mouth but it did. In order to keep me from retrieving it my sister takes the phone and hides it in my parent’s bedroom.
Thirty minutes has past since my near breaking point and to keep from being bored me and my sister decides to sing and dance to our own crackling voices. My Body begins to move toward the computer.. My sister stops me as I reach for the mouse.
“What are you doing?” she shouts.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Crash is what is heard throughout the house as my body collapses to the floor and curled up into fetus position. I believe I am having some type of attack at this point. Here now at hour ten and I am feening like a drug addict.
“Give me my phone now!” I shout as my mother and sister stand over in complete shock.
According to my sister I blurted out many threats and said many foul words. Now it is eleven at night and like an old man I am sitting at the kitchen table playing and losing. My sister joins in and says, “you wanna play speed”. Smiling I thought to myself finally something to stimulate my mind. Speed is card game that requires you to move as fast as possible to get rid of your cards. Like Jacobs says, “I feel like I have entered a school zone and my brain has slowed to 25 mph.” Sadly the game is cut short because my sister should have been in bed an hour ago and she was upset because I hustled her as well.
I force myself to bed because I have finally reached the point of air text. Air texting is moving your figures as though you have a phone in your hand and you are carrying on a conversation with yourself…at least I did anyway. I also can hear shadow rings and I am reaching for items but my phone is still off and in my mother’s sock drawer. Twelve hours so far and I have diagnosed myself as being mentally insane and should see a shrink and now I will go to bed.
10:30 a.m. I have just arrived to my class very late. Yes the same class that is putting me through this nightmare. My alarm that did not go off just so happens to be located on my phone, which was not near me. Now I have only 90 minutes to go then I can check my facebook, email, myspace, messages, and anything else that requires some type of technology.
Overall this experience helps me realize how much I depend on technology to get me through the day. I honestly do not think that I would be able to survive without some form of communication device. Many say that our parents fine without them. I agree that older generations can do without because they have not embraced the new world. I believe that if you were born into it then to do without would be impossible. Those who were born without it…“They can’t miss what they don’t have”.
“I am unplugged,” I think to myself.
As the class ends I find that I am still holding my phone in my hand as though it is going to ring, but unfortunately it can’t. I decide to abandon my phone into my purse.
“Ah dang it is raining”, I say to myself as I walk to the exit door. “To hell with it!” I shout as I scurry to my car.
I am somewhat relieved that it is raining because as a young girl my mother always turned the radio off while driving to listen for the rain. This is a habit that I also have. I will be able to drive to work with the radio off and remain unplugged.
Pay attention to how this story is being told my blog is going to continue on with just about every out burst and near panic attacks that I have for the twenty-four hour period. The only thing this horror film is missing is a great soundtrack. Let’s call this break the intermission.
Now I am arriving at work it has been thirty-minutes and I have not t noticed my phone until I gathered my items to take inside: Name badge, chap stick, chewing gum, and phone.
“Pause… wait no phone, I say as I place it back into my purse, You can stay right here”
Upon arrival I remember that I forgot to do something that required the use of my cell phone.
“Pam! Do me a favor I need you to text my mother Happy Birthday from your phone and make sure to tell her it is from me”
She responds “Sure…but what is wrong with your phone”
I frown at her in a dramatic tone I say “It is DEAD to me for the next twenty-four hours”.
It is safe to say that my day is only getting worse by the minute. Assuming that I would be at work all day I would not be distracted by the thought of having my cellphone off. Sadly I was mistaken. Terror struck when my manager told me I had toomany hours on the books and “we gotta send you home early”.
“Noooo!” the little voice in the back of my head is screeching, but my mouth is saying “Ok!”
I am at the four hour mark, and I have nothing but time on my hands. So out of sheer boredom I to take a nice long nap. By long I mean an hour and a half. As my head rises from the pillow my hand reaches for the phone and presses the unlock button, but luckily it was still off and the screen remained blank.
A.J. Jacobs mentions in his article how multitasking really took away from his day to day activities and how he struggled with not being stimulated because he was unitasking. I personally believe that is great and good for him, but what about someone like me who is completely shut off from the world. Now that I am done venting let us continue with this horror film.
Hour seven is slowly approaching as I watch the clock we have just finished singing Happy Birthday to my mom. I did not take any picture because that would have required me to use my digital camera, but my younger sister kindly did it for me. I am lurking and wandering around the house at this point and I do not under stand why.
“Where are you going?” my sister called out
“To my phone… I mean my room”.
I can not explain how the word phone flopped out of my mouth but it did. In order to keep me from retrieving it my sister takes the phone and hides it in my parent’s bedroom.
Thirty minutes has past since my near breaking point and to keep from being bored me and my sister decides to sing and dance to our own crackling voices. My Body begins to move toward the computer.. My sister stops me as I reach for the mouse.
“What are you doing?” she shouts.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Crash is what is heard throughout the house as my body collapses to the floor and curled up into fetus position. I believe I am having some type of attack at this point. Here now at hour ten and I am feening like a drug addict.
“Give me my phone now!” I shout as my mother and sister stand over in complete shock.
According to my sister I blurted out many threats and said many foul words. Now it is eleven at night and like an old man I am sitting at the kitchen table playing and losing. My sister joins in and says, “you wanna play speed”. Smiling I thought to myself finally something to stimulate my mind. Speed is card game that requires you to move as fast as possible to get rid of your cards. Like Jacobs says, “I feel like I have entered a school zone and my brain has slowed to 25 mph.” Sadly the game is cut short because my sister should have been in bed an hour ago and she was upset because I hustled her as well.
I force myself to bed because I have finally reached the point of air text. Air texting is moving your figures as though you have a phone in your hand and you are carrying on a conversation with yourself…at least I did anyway. I also can hear shadow rings and I am reaching for items but my phone is still off and in my mother’s sock drawer. Twelve hours so far and I have diagnosed myself as being mentally insane and should see a shrink and now I will go to bed.
10:30 a.m. I have just arrived to my class very late. Yes the same class that is putting me through this nightmare. My alarm that did not go off just so happens to be located on my phone, which was not near me. Now I have only 90 minutes to go then I can check my facebook, email, myspace, messages, and anything else that requires some type of technology.
Overall this experience helps me realize how much I depend on technology to get me through the day. I honestly do not think that I would be able to survive without some form of communication device. Many say that our parents fine without them. I agree that older generations can do without because they have not embraced the new world. I believe that if you were born into it then to do without would be impossible. Those who were born without it…“They can’t miss what they don’t have”.
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