I am trying to remember where my cell phone is at this very moment. I think it is either in my purse in the kitchen, or it is in my diaper bag which is in the guest room, or it is somewhere in the recesses of the floorboard of my car...1993 Buick...yea baby!
Before moving to Germany I was obsessed with my cell. I had this cool flip phone from Sprint...that was just when flips came out. I was actually one of the last people to get a cell, at least of my peers, but it was SO handy! I was always calling someone on my way home from work, and of course when Dave and I started dating it was always fun talk to him. I was kind of a junkie.
When we moved to Germany we got little cell phones, but I really got out of the habit of using it. It seems funny now because being in a foreign country I probably had more use for it than I do here. If I broke down on the side of the autobahn it would have been bad. Anyway, Dave and I were pretty much cell phone free while we lived there...though we did use it quite frequently while we were awaiting the arrival of Miss HC.
I really liked not being linked to my cell phone. Life in Germany in general is a lot slower than life here. When we first moved back here I had a hard time keeping up...not that I really wanted to. We were not anxious to enter the "rat race" and owning a cell phone seemed to opitimize the race. But we survived here in the states for about 2 weeks without a phone. Of course it is hard to look for a place to live and a job if you have no way to be reached. Dave and I marched into the mall and bought matching blue and pink phones.
So, we have phones, though I have lots of thoughts on my cell and try to take a lesson from my time in Europe when tempted to use the phone.
For example, it is illegal to talk on the phone while driving in Germany. I think this is a good practice and rarely talk on the phone while driving. If the girls are in the car with me I refuse to talk on the phone, I just think it isn't safe.
I will not answer the phone when I am in a store. I will not talk on the phone when I am at the pool or park or out with the girls. Of course if I am at the pool I am usually in the pool with the girls. Yesterday Dave and I were at the park with the girls and this mom was walking around with her kiddo (who was young), trying to keep track of him while talking on the phone. It seemed so sad to me!
It is hard because I think the cell is sometimes just one more distraction that takes me away from enjoying life one minute at a time, and from enjoying my minutes with those I am with at the moment.
There are lots of other things that take me away from my family and girls, and I am trying to bring a lot of that into balance...as I sit here and type on my blog. I can sit at the computer all day long and be happy, but not engage with Dave or the girls. We have all of these things that are made to make our life easier, but they probably just clutter up my life and keep me from investing on the very people who are right in front of my face.
Of course there are some great reasons to have cells and I am thankful for that. I guess all of that is to say, when in doubt call me at home.
6 comments:
Hey, I need your home number. For some reason the only one I've got is your cell. I think we were meeting up at the park one day...
And the woman trying to walk around with her baby and talk on the phone? Yeah, that was probably me. I have a love/hate relationship with the phone. It's my own silly fault - half the time I'm the one who made the call! - but then I get so annoyed with myself for being on the phone and thus soooooo distracted. And I absolutely stink at getting off the phone. Oftentimes I plan on just touching base with someone quickly, and that turns into 45 minutes. Bad.
i wasn't you at the park...i sould have recognized you! i know...i have been out on a walk talking on the phone, but now that i see other people doing that and looking silly i have decided no more walking and talking...=0
a good reminder. We have been way behind too (as until about 3 months ago we only owned 1 cell phone which was mostly forgotten at home), but it is tempting now to talk more that Michael and I both have them. (especially in the car) Although, you will still find it is easier to get a hold of us via landline~ see! We are still dated. (we have kept the cheapest plan available for a reason and are way behind in that we never text!)
And, oh, no news yet...the baby seems set on staying a little while! :) :(
Ami,
I stalk you blog - but I'll come out of the closet for this post.
I disagree with you about cell phone use. We live in a very isolated society - Women used to live close to family and friends and would not be expected to spend most of the day alone with their children (maybe the pioneers -but that's it :).
If I'm at the park and the girls are happy playing I LOVE to talk on my cell and catch up with friends - if other people are their I try to strike up conversation with them first - but I NEED adult conversation - EVERYDAY - and the cell phone is really a blessing for that - so don't judge the lady at the park - she likely just needed to talk with another grownup! If the women would have been talking with a real life in person friend - would you have thought the same thing?
I do agree about the car - but I suck at that :)
Cheers- Gwen
No such thing as stalking a public domain!
I certainly agree that having a cell helps me keep up with my family who live 3,000 miles away, and all my crazy friends who live all over the world. For me the rub comes when I replace real face to face connection with my girls, my husband, the cash register at the grocery store, with a psuedo connection through cells, blogs, emails, facebook. And for me, these things that were made to connect us to each other, actually isolate me more because I do not need to make a connection with my neighbor anymore.
So it is important for me to make an effort to have boundaries and occasionaly put the phone down, and turn off the computer. It is not gospel, it just what is important to me.
i meant to say the check-out lady...not the cash register...
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