Forgetting My Phone February 14, 2020 Lately, I've been forgetting to carry my cell phone. I'll be in the car, a mile from home, when I remember that it's still on my desk. Or I'll get out of the car at the first of my day's errands and realize that it isn't sitting in the cup holder where I usually put it. There are two possible reasons for this. One, of course, is that I'm getting older and like a lot of older people, becoming forgetful. (However, that's something I don't want to discuss here....) The other reason--and the one I feel is the most likely--is that my phone isn't all that important to me. As I mentioned in my last post, I have a cheap pay-as-you-go flip phone that I use only for phone calls and texts. I probably make only a call or two a week and in the same time frame, average a handful of texts. Well, OK, maybe I use my phone for a few more things--I set alarms on it and the calculator does come in handy. While my phone technically has a web browser, it's so slow and cumbersome that I never use it. As a result, I'm not whipping my phone out whenever I'm bored or have a few minutes to kill. I use that time instead to think or read or jot notes in a notebook[1]. I try to use the odd moments of the day to do something that moves my writing forward, rather than mindlessly entertaining myself. This isn't to say I'm immune to the pull of the internet or a smart phone. I can spend hours doing "research" online, if I don't control myself. And I can pick up my wife's smart phone and scroll away an hour--something I've done on occasion. But when I come back to the real world, that wasted time always makes my desire not to own a smart phone all the stronger. To be honest, were it not for the fact that pay phones have all disappeared, I might not carry a cell phone at all. When I got my driver's license (back in the paleolithic age), my mother handed me half an index card onto which she'd taped four quarters. I was told to keep it in my wallet, so I could call someone in an emergency. I do something similar today. I keep a cut-down index card (weatherproofed with clear packing tape) in my wallet which lists emergency contact numbers, the medicines I take, and other essential information. In a dire emergency, if my cell phone isn't working (or if I've forgotten it yet again) I can always ask some good Samaritan if I can borrow theirs. I forgot my phone just the other week when I went out to meet a friend. I mentioned it to him as we settled in with our cups of coffee and he replied "You're the only person I know who isn't scared to be separated from their phone." I took (and still consider) it as a compliment. [1] https://www.andrewgudgel.com/blog/the-notebook-habit.txt (c) 2020 by Andrew Gudgel email: contact [at] andrewgudgel.com