Monday, July 27, 2015

Feeling Naked - No Phone


by Fran McNabb

On my way to a doctor’s appointment this morning, I realized I’d forgotten my cell phone. No
big deal, right? Wrong. I wasn’t going far, just a couple of miles, but I felt vulnerable, and yes, naked.
 
What would I do if I had car trouble? Flat tire? A wreck? What if I stopped at the grocery store on my way home? How would I call my husband to see if he’d thought of something else we needed?

My mind spun. I felt alone. I thought about going back to the house to get the phone, but I didn’t want to be late so I moved along with the slow flow of traffic. I arrived at the doctor’s office a few minutes early, checked in, then took my seat along with the four other people waiting for their names to be called.
 
The first thing I did was to reach into my purse for my phone, but alas, I remembered I didn’t have it with me. I looked at the others in the lobby, but no one acknowledged me. How could they? All of them had their heads down looking at their cell phones.
 
I wanted to giggle. This little waiting room wasn’t just a doctor’s lobby. It was a tiny slice of the world around us, made up of people living and working alongside of others, but most of the time isolating themselves from the masses around them.

 We’ve become a nation dependent on technology. The cell phone is just one of the pieces of technology that has become a necessary part of our lives. Is that a bad thing? Certainly not. I could write for pages about how the phone has made our lives easier, but not today. Today as I think about the waiting room, I wonder how many lives we’ve neglected to see around us because we were so engrossed in our emails, texts, and internet.

 When the nurse called my name, I picked up my purse, smiled to the young man who actually looked up when I stood. I realized if I had had my phone, I would’ve been just like them—isolated and much too involved in a tiny piece of technology to see those around me.

After my appointment, I didn’t stop at the store. I rushed home and the first thing I did was to locate my phone. I didn’t like feeling naked. I wanted to feel connected.

Fran McNabb and her husband live along the Gulf Coast where they raised their two sons. She has used the beaches, islands, and waterways in this area for many of her seven published books. When she and her husband are not boating or fishing, she loves presenting writing workshops. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com and mcnabbf@bellsouth.net.

10 comments:

  1. Great post, Fran. So true. I find it sad, but try to remember that those people are all connected to someone on the other end of their gadget. I'm old- fashioned, though, and miss the days of connection with those strangers in waiting rooms.

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    1. You're right, Sandy. At least we are connected to someone on the other end of the phone, if, of course, we're not just surfing the internet!

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    2. This is so true. What in the world did we ever do back in the day.

      But on the flip side, our kids will never know rotary phones, party lines and phone booths! LOL

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  2. So true, Fran. When I think of all the things we use our phones for - not just talk and text, but listening to music, reading books, playing games, planning a route, snapping photos...we can even make payments with it now. The thought of forgetting my phone (or worse, losing it!) makes me cringe.

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    1. I really did feel "naked and vulnerable" that morning at the doctor's office without my phone. I really don't think it's good to be that dependent on something like that, but that's the way our lives have gone.

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  3. So much truth in your post, Fran. There is good and bad with technology. Cellphones, ereaders, etc in so many ways have simplified our lives yet, I'm afraid we're becoming a society void of communication skills. We have a rule at my house: when the family comes to visit...no electronic games, and the cellphones are for making necessary calls. The point of visiting is to visit and enjoy each others company, conversations, swapping of tales. My cell phone is a dinosaur. No texting, no emails, no camera, no games. I'm resisting modernization.

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    1. Loretta, your rule is a great rule. More families should do as yours does.

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  4. That's very much me, too, Fran. I dislike that we all spend so much time staring at our electronics, and yet, I find I do it too. And I did once have a problem with my car out in the middle of nowhere and I was so very grateful I had my phone with me. Don't know what I would've done without it, so I'm always careful to take it with me when I leave home.

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    1. Yes, Karen, I, too, had car trouble on the interstate and felt so much better having my phone with me. At least I could call for help.

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  5. Hi Fran--
    When I first arrived in Germany my phone didn't work for a couple of days until I could call my carrier. I was literally lost without it :-) On the bright side though, Germans aren't glued to their cellphones. No one has them out at restaurants or cafes or walking. They actually converse at the table. It's a nice change.
    Victoria --

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