Untethered

I got my first cell phone during high school, as I recall. I had just started to see people around me get them in the year or two preceding, and these were of course primitive models by today's standards. The one I remember which belonged to a friend's mother of course did nothing but make phone calls and had a little extendable antenna. I used it a couple of times with wonderment when going from school to his home on the spur of the moment. It was neat, but I was then more upset about not having the internet at home. So I got one midway through high school, and I have not done without one for very long at a time since then, the big exception being during summer camp when no phone could obtain a signal.

Recently I had to leave my phone in a friend's car for a few hours by necessity as we went to be at a game show taping. I can only even think of a couple of times in years when I did not have my cell phone on me, and this is one of them. Interesting that this very subject should be brought up by the host during a commercial break (which is beyond my understanding given that the show is not live). Maybe it's an obvious thing, and it does certainly beat talking about the weather, which provides precious little stimulation in southern California.

Now, in those earlier days I wore a watch like anyone (for a time, I was contrary enough to carry a pocketwatch, but mostly a wristwatch). Otherwise there was the nightmare of not knowing what time it was. One had to hope they would find someone to ask or come upon a bank whose sign proudly declared the time to the community. The whole time we were out and about on this particular day, I was not overly bothered by not knowing what time it is. Maybe I've matured, or maybe it was that I had nothing pressing on the agenda for the rest of the day.

Naturally I was also fearful of missing something, as I always am when I turn it to silent that I may not be distracted during a movie. As I may have said in reference to that, I'm of two minds. I don't want to miss something, and yet finding that after two hours of being incommunicado I haven't missed something, I tend to get depressed. Well, on this game show excursion, there was nothing disastrous missed but enough to let me think I'm wanted. Really, being without my phone for some seven hours was an entirely tolerable experience. Once committed, I thought about it little. I guess that is maturity.