I hate my phone - a rant
I hate my phone.
I used to spend hours on the phone to my friends as a teenager, and hours on my CB radio. Soon after, I had a boyfriend. I borrowed my mum's mobile occasionally, and he would call to ask where I was, and why I was taking so long, because he knew the drive from RandomA to RandomB took less time than that. One time he called the house and I didn't answer because I was vacuuming and couldn't hear the ringer. He drove over and wouldn't believe me until he had dragged the vacuum out again, plugged it in, and phoned the house phone to listen for himself. Another time I had a friend over from the US for one night only, and boyf called me on mum's mobile to say he was stuck in Belfast and I would have to drive up to collect him. Expressing regret, I said 'Hey, Ed's only here for one day. Can you ask your Dad or something, I really can't help this time...'. He called repeatedly to shout until I ended up turning the phone off.
For years I went without a mobile despite everyone I knew having one. I was happy enough. Close friends would call me in the house, and everyone used MSN or LJ so it was easy to keep in touch. Then I met Skally. We were in love, and missing each other madly. We texted into the night, every night, and talked every day, and I ran up bills of several hundred pounds. I still didn't get a mobile. I used the payphone outside work every lunch time to leave him a voicemail message.
Eventually I got married and lived in England for some time, and Skally's mum gave me her old PAYG mobile, so I could hardly refuse, though I was wary of the idea. Skally had a phone, and everyone made arrangments through him anyway, I didn't need one! By the time I lost that handset I was working full time and Ami was in after school care, so having a phone turned out to be useful after all. My mother promptly bought me a new one as a Christmas present... and this one played mp3s! Suddenly the 'two buses and a 20 minute walk' to work was less painful. As I was back to part time work though, I was back to barely ever using the phone or text functions.
Fast forward a few years of living in Ireland doing very little except existing and looking after Skally and Aims, and suddenly I am going out again, and I'm at Qcon and Pcon, and I know people, and people are texting me! By this time I have successfully washed my handset in the mcahine so it is only turning on occasionally, and I'm spending £15 a month in texts. It seems to make economic sense to get a contract... Cue shiney new Android phone.
The honeymoon period is over though. Android is less interesting and a lot slower than it seemed it would be. And with the exception of a couple of lovely people all my texts are back to being 'Where are you?' and 'When are you coming home?' and 'I know I was meant to meet you in 30 minutes but I'm sorry I have to cancel' and 'Did you sort out that thing yet, that you were meant to have done already?'. And my phonecalls (which I hate, don't phone me) fill me with the kind of dread I normally reserve for spiders and butterflies. I find talking on the phone physically difficult; I panic, I misinterpret everything, I say things I don't mean, or mean things I can't seem to say correctly, and I'm not there in person to see if someone is offended, or smile and reassure them, or just know what the heck is going on.
I still love instant messaging, and I have no issue with email. Is it the verbosity? The feeling that I can control what I am conveying in text in ways that the weird connection between my mouth and my brain just can't manage? But I hate the phone. I am strongly considering getting rid of it entirely. Why do I keep it? So that people can contact me in emergencies? I can't even think of an emergency in the last year that required a phonecall, though there were a few that other people were determined were emergencies to them. So that meeting up is easier? The only difference there is a little more forward planning, and I have an inkling that people might actually be less able to let me down if they had no way of getting in touch at the last minute, heh. I think I'd even be more reliable myself if I couldn't text ahead to say I was running late but was on my way. I can't see any positives to having it. I hate it. Do you hate your phone?
I used to spend hours on the phone to my friends as a teenager, and hours on my CB radio. Soon after, I had a boyfriend. I borrowed my mum's mobile occasionally, and he would call to ask where I was, and why I was taking so long, because he knew the drive from RandomA to RandomB took less time than that. One time he called the house and I didn't answer because I was vacuuming and couldn't hear the ringer. He drove over and wouldn't believe me until he had dragged the vacuum out again, plugged it in, and phoned the house phone to listen for himself. Another time I had a friend over from the US for one night only, and boyf called me on mum's mobile to say he was stuck in Belfast and I would have to drive up to collect him. Expressing regret, I said 'Hey, Ed's only here for one day. Can you ask your Dad or something, I really can't help this time...'. He called repeatedly to shout until I ended up turning the phone off.
For years I went without a mobile despite everyone I knew having one. I was happy enough. Close friends would call me in the house, and everyone used MSN or LJ so it was easy to keep in touch. Then I met Skally. We were in love, and missing each other madly. We texted into the night, every night, and talked every day, and I ran up bills of several hundred pounds. I still didn't get a mobile. I used the payphone outside work every lunch time to leave him a voicemail message.
Eventually I got married and lived in England for some time, and Skally's mum gave me her old PAYG mobile, so I could hardly refuse, though I was wary of the idea. Skally had a phone, and everyone made arrangments through him anyway, I didn't need one! By the time I lost that handset I was working full time and Ami was in after school care, so having a phone turned out to be useful after all. My mother promptly bought me a new one as a Christmas present... and this one played mp3s! Suddenly the 'two buses and a 20 minute walk' to work was less painful. As I was back to part time work though, I was back to barely ever using the phone or text functions.
Fast forward a few years of living in Ireland doing very little except existing and looking after Skally and Aims, and suddenly I am going out again, and I'm at Qcon and Pcon, and I know people, and people are texting me! By this time I have successfully washed my handset in the mcahine so it is only turning on occasionally, and I'm spending £15 a month in texts. It seems to make economic sense to get a contract... Cue shiney new Android phone.
The honeymoon period is over though. Android is less interesting and a lot slower than it seemed it would be. And with the exception of a couple of lovely people all my texts are back to being 'Where are you?' and 'When are you coming home?' and 'I know I was meant to meet you in 30 minutes but I'm sorry I have to cancel' and 'Did you sort out that thing yet, that you were meant to have done already?'. And my phonecalls (which I hate, don't phone me) fill me with the kind of dread I normally reserve for spiders and butterflies. I find talking on the phone physically difficult; I panic, I misinterpret everything, I say things I don't mean, or mean things I can't seem to say correctly, and I'm not there in person to see if someone is offended, or smile and reassure them, or just know what the heck is going on.
I still love instant messaging, and I have no issue with email. Is it the verbosity? The feeling that I can control what I am conveying in text in ways that the weird connection between my mouth and my brain just can't manage? But I hate the phone. I am strongly considering getting rid of it entirely. Why do I keep it? So that people can contact me in emergencies? I can't even think of an emergency in the last year that required a phonecall, though there were a few that other people were determined were emergencies to them. So that meeting up is easier? The only difference there is a little more forward planning, and I have an inkling that people might actually be less able to let me down if they had no way of getting in touch at the last minute, heh. I think I'd even be more reliable myself if I couldn't text ahead to say I was running late but was on my way. I can't see any positives to having it. I hate it. Do you hate your phone?