Monday, February 11, 2008

D/C

I was disconnected today.

No doubt a shocking ( if not debilitating ) thought for the technologically-connected generation of today who's never more than a few inches ( seconds? ) away from the closest gadget-gizmo that effectively links them to the rest of the wired world.

To my surprise it felt as if I was missing a limb! Being without my cell certainly left me thinking. Even a certified techno-himbo like me felt the keen loss! No doubt a bona-fide techie-geek would have felt as if his eternal soul had gone missing!

Phone booth!
Uhh... operator?

Astonishing isn't it how much we rely on our lil cellphones and blackberrys? What a virtual crutch it has become! Pampered tweens these days wouldn't be able to live without a cell attached to their ear - and yet it had me thinking back to those days when my classmates and I didn't actually have any cellphones to speak of. Yeah, it was those early halcyon days when cells actually came in briefcases, were just about the size of a football and cost more than half a lifetime's salary.

And the connection sucked.

You'd probably have to lean out of a window on the 14th storey of a building just to get a buzz.

Makes me wonder how we actually kept up with appointments! With our reliance on being connected these days, I think we actually have become a little fast and loose with setting the time and place - since it's easy enough to text someone with the arrangement details later.

Colin FarrellSo you can imagine how my ISO ( InSignificant Other natch ) felt when I got disconnected ( since we'd actually made tentative plans to meet ). Something tells me he wasn't amused by the story at all.

My ISO : Where the hell were you? I couldn't get you.
Paul : Sorry. Guess what. There was no line. Somehow I was disconnected for a while.
My ISO : WTF! #%$#@*@!!
Paul : So I figure reminiscing about those days when we didn't have phones would be pointless?

Some guys just don't appreciate the simple things in life :)

9 comments:

Little Prince said...

aiyo~ no phone, internet, etc for one day is not that bad. it's actually a privilege now! privacy~ but not without ipod... that's a no no.

William said...

The days of the vandalized public phones...

Janvier said...

Never pay bills or what?

Before handphones we snigger to see the boys hang out at the public phones with lotsa loose change.

Quentin X said...

A friend of mine always have a mobile-free day once a week.

Ryan said...

I don't mind living without my cellphone for a few days. But without internet? No, I would die! :P

ikanbilis said...

i survived 6 months in USA in the middle of nowhere without cell phone.


but I had super cable tv network and super fast internet access. hallelujah for that!

Jason said...

I survived 7 months without internet at home. :)

D-Man said...

I actually fantasize returning to a pre-cell life. How did we manage? just fine, thank you. But being plugged in and available 24/7 is somehow like crack and I go a little crazy when something happens to my mobile.

I think that we've actually lost a whole set of coping skills - I mean we freak if we can't get instant info/answers, or instantly connect with people.

What DID we do in the old days? We planned ahead as best we could and used our judgement...?

savante said...

Imagine being disconnected from them all then, daniel!

Oh I hated that, william! I'd be cursing the bloody vandalizers.

Hey, i was one of the boys with the loose change at the phones, janvier. You know how expensive it is to call UK? :P

Mobile free day! Cool idea, quentin.

I know, ben. I have some friends who don't even turn it off at night!

Same here though, ryan :P

How did you stop from going stir crazy, ikanbilis?

You had it at work, jason.

yeah! That's what I meant by virtual crutch, d-man. We seem to be so.. dependent.

paul