My month with no phone

Monday, September 09, 2013


When I was working, I was eligible to get a new phone every year. Pretty silly, but phones get dropped and used quite a bit in the corporate world so I suppose it makes sense.

I used to be a BlackBerry gal through-and-through, but when it came time for me to get a new phone after my mat leave with Leo, I thought I'd give iPhone a chance. I love it (hello Instagram!) and hated it at the same time (texting is still taking some getting used to). When I went on my second mat leave and then decided I wouldn't return to work I requested to keep the phone and my number. In the past I had kept old phones or sent them in for recycling so I didn't think it would be a problem.

Well I was wrong. I could keep number, but I had to give the phone back.* When HR broke the news I broke out in an instant sweat and I was a little short of breath.



Apparently they've changed their policies and all phones have to be sent back. Hmf. But hey I could keep my number. It was something I suppose.

So I cleaned out my phone, backed it all up on iCloud, wrote down all my apps that I had (I'm sure there's a way I could have transferred them but I'm not that tech savvy) and gave.the.phone.back.

At first I didn't know what to do. What would I do without, what had become, a third arm? What would happen if I got in an accident on the way home? What would happen if someone texted me and didn't realize I didn't have my phone?!

Turns out nothing. It turns out I would be just fine. In fact, I would be better than fine. Part of me felt a little free at times. Previously, if I forgot my phone at home when I would go for a walk or to get groceries, I would have panicked and raced back to get it. But since I didn't have it, there was nothing to worry about. If I started to get stressed about not having it, I'd just shrug my shoulders and carry on. I didn't have a phone so that's it. End of story. Get on with it.

In the end, I didn't really miss it all that much. I would have to remind people over again: "Remember - I don't have a phone!!!" so they would know to email or gasp, call me on the landline. Only once was there a time when I left home to meet up with my neighbourhood girlfriends for bootcamp only to find my friend in her PJs when I knocked on her door. I didn't get her message that she wasn't coming. But it was ok. I was fine.

Before I knew it, I had been without a phone for a month. I think other people were more concerned about it than I was. "When are you getting a phone?" they'd ask over and over. My mom even asked if she was still able to email me because I didn't have a phone.

Throughout the month, I had been talking to my husband about getting a phone through his work plan and one evening after work he came home with a phone for me. I didn't go to it right away and just let it sit in the box because once I opened it, I knew it would be the end of my little sabbatical, and once again, I would be thrown into the iPhone abyss.

So yes, I have a phone again. I'd like to say I learned a lesson. I kind of did, but the reality is that it's never far from my side.

*I am well aware that this is a post that should end with a #firstworldproblems hashtag 

5 comments:

  1. Haha this is great. You proved that you could do it!

    Glad that you are back in the phone world though - it is kind of fun. :-)

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  2. I have been without a cell phone for a few years now..... it bothers other people more than me. At times when I a travelling it could be useful but..... I never have a bill arrive in the mail this way with what seems like ever changing rates and add ons and changes.... you get my drift.... just guess I am stuck in the stone age without a cell phone and will be there for awhile longer.

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  3. "My mom even asked if she was still able to email me because I didn't have a phone." Hilarious!

    I've taken to phone-free (and actually, social media-free) Sundays and found it so freeing. Something to think about as you ease back in to phownership. :)

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  4. "My 37 Years with No Phone." That's my blog post. And I couldn't be happier!

    ReplyDelete

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