BY CANDELA DIAZ
“I can’t live without my phone!”
A phrase that has been said by so many people these days. We rely on social media to communicate and spend our free time. Hours are spent each day on websites such as Instagram and Twitter, or simpler things such as texting. But have you ever wondered what it’s like to spend a couple of weeks without a phone?
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and…
My phone had fallen a couple of times before, causing the right corner of the inside of my screen to turn black. This time, as I was using Instagram, the screen turned completely white. I tried turning it on and off. I even hit it against my hand, which was a bad idea since that caused a bigger problem. It was official: I was phoneless as of that moment. It might sound dumb, but I felt lonely without it; I didn’t know what to do.
I was so scared to tell my dad; I knew he would probably murder me. After I built up enough courage to tell him–and I did–my life got worse. I got the news that, since I have broken a couple of phones over the span of three years, I was getting a new phone in August 2014, when my upgrade was available. I think I died a bit inside. How could I text my friends, or go on Twitter? I was too nervous to even sit down; I couldn’t control myself from having a meltdown. My palms got a lot more sweaty. I couldn’t even enjoy the Christmas Eve party we were having because I lost one of the most precious things in my life.
I woke up to realize that my routine was ruined just by a simple thing as not having a phone. I usually check Twitter, but this time I couldn’t.
What do I do now? I am stuck in another state without daily access to internet and no friends to hang out with. I went through the day feeling horrible; it was all ruined due to my bad mood. Minutes became hours, and hours became days. I was sure that by the end of the week, if I didn’t get a phone I would have a breakdown.
Days did not go by without me not missing my phone, wishing I was less clumsy and more careful. I wish I would have taken care of my phone more, and it made me realize that it is not just my phone that I need to take care of, but rather all my other belongings. It made me appreciate other things rather than just the Internet. I went out more, and hung out with my family rather than hid under my bed covers like I usually did, lost in time.
My dad needs the computer every day at night for work, so I could only go online until about 6 p.m. It wasn’t the same as using the phone. First of all, the computer doesn’t have emojis, so it was pretty awkward doing the normal smiley face rather than using the emoji. I couldn’t waste my days endlessly playing games on my phone, such as Mega Run or Bejeweled, and Facebook games just aren’t my thing.
Since I had no social life at night, I decided to pick up that book that I started reading a couple of months ago, but never got to finish. It was called The Kite Runner by one of my favorite authors, Khaled Hosseini. I finished it in about four days and decided to start another book Hosseini wrote, And The Mountains Echoed. In a matter of a week, I was finished with the second book and was halfway through another one, which was in Spanish, El Futbol A Sol y Sombra by Eduardo Galeano.
I came to the conclusion that a little bit of technology in your life is not a bad thing; it is indeed helpful to be able to access informative websites in a matter of seconds. But we also need some time out of our lives to do things such as read books or just simply take a walk. We need to make ourselves aware of what is going on around us. It is not always about what is happening online.
