Sunday, February 14, 2010

Suddenly Sans Cellphone

Not me actually, my husband.  He ended up going to work without his phone; I'll leave the story at that, sans details.  The story isn't the story.  Nu, does that make sense?

We're used to checking in, his letting me know when he'll be back, which bus etc.  Also if the bus is delayed.  Today isn't a routine day, which makes for more guess work.  There was a time when that was the norm, but now it's odd.

In some ways life was less stressed when we didn't know every detail, when we had to accept that we're not in control, that we can't really predict.

I remember waiting for various people, having to just wait, wonder when I should just "give up."

Today it's call, call and call.  Now with "call waiting" calls are even interrupted, so different from years ago.

Is today better, or worse?

5 comments:

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
My humble opinion: Technology is a tool. When used correctly tools are beneficial. If you panic when you forget your cell-phone or rudely interrupt every conversation when call-waiting beeps, then you've become a slave to technology. On the other hand, I, like many others, would miss many events if I wasn't a mere cell phone call away from my kids. There are many more of both types of examples.

Batya said...

So true, Hadassa. I prefer f2f, being with people, and I really get annoyed when people are busy chatting on the phone when they should be chatting with the person sitting next to them. A quick check up on kids or whatever is one thing, but frequently you see people at weddings/events ignoring their neighbors, friends, family, totally focused on phone calls instead.

Anonymous said...

if not for technology i would have returned to the us long ago.
with technology i can stay connected while living in israel [while making occasional trips in].

Pesky Settler said...

I know that the technology has certainly made living 6000 miles away from pretty much all our family a lot easier. Thanks to video Skype, my sons know and recognize Nana (my MIL) who is the only one of the grandparents who has made the effort.

Last week while the boys and I were out on our daily walk (the first really nice day after all that rain and hail and cold) we met one of the other Anglos with her 6 month old daughter. She was in the process of hurrying home because she'd forgotten her cellphone at home and was worried that if her husband would try and call and no one answered, he'd worry (to be fair, their 6 month old had serious surgery a month ago). I handed her my cellphone and told her to call her husband and tell him that she'd forgotten her phone at home, that she and the baby were enjoying the nice weather and he shouldn't worry if no one answers.

We got my daughters cellphones once they started traveling to and from school along Route 60. I don't think I'd be comfortable with them NOT having a way to instantly communicate under the circumstances.

Batya said...

a, pesky, I guess you'd never understand how we lived here all those years when communication was a thin aerogramme. I was very good, sending out a weekly one to my parents. And I'd send postcards to other relatives a couple of times a year. I kept track of the picture code, so I wouldn't duplicate.

Life was so different.

Pre-cellphone there was a cb radio communicator people had in their cars. Our region's was "kesher binyamin." In an emergency it was better than a cellphone. Once I began panicking because my daughter hadn't arrived home. They called an alert: "Looking for..."

And the vehicle she was in radioed the reply.