I’m embarrassed to describe the horror I felt when I realized my phone was broken. I didn’t want to accept it. I hopelessly turned it on and off hoping it would work. Nothing worked, and I seriously wanted to cry.
There are unhealthy ways to embrace technology; I’m guilty of it all the time. But no matter how obsessive or crazy we get about our technology, there’s no escaping it or denying that it’s one of the greatest tools of our time.
The phone situation was an example of the big role technology takes in most lives without people even realizing it.
With my phone broken, how was I going to talk and text my parents, my boyfriend, my friends and even my coworkers?
I almost went a whole day without communicating with any of my nearest and dearest. It was a tough day. I walked around with a worried look on my face. And every so often, I’d reach in my pockets, expecting to find my phone to see what time it was or if I had any text messages or missed calls.
I tried to call my parents through my landline, but I realized I couldn’t place long-distance calls. I couldn’t even call my friends or coworkers because I didn’t know anyone’s number.
Before long, the technical savvy that comes naturally to anyone my age kicked in. I changed my Facebook status letting everyone know my phone didn’t work. I sent my boyfriend a Facebook message, telling him to call my landline whenever he got the chance. I Skyped my brother and told him to tell my parents that my phone was broken. Finally, I got some Skype credit and called my dad at work to let him know what was going on. I could even send text messages through Skype.
My crisis was over. I existed again; people could get a hold on me. I’ve been without a phone for almost two weeks, and it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’ve adjusted.
But when I look back at what a big deal it was for me to be without a phone, I laugh.
For the half of a day that I was without it, I felt like someone who’d just quit smoking. I was anxious. I was sad. I was angry. I wanted my phone, and I wanted it now. I couldn’t think about anything else. What a joke.
A break from it all is nice every once in a while. For example, for a week and a half now, I haven’t received news alerts every 20 minutes from the New York Times. I haven’t received a text message from my boss reminding me of some task my coworkers and I should be doing. I haven’t gotten text messages from friends asking what time we’re eating dinner, what am I doing or if I’m in my room. While I appreciate all those text messages, I have to say, doing without them for a while has given me less to worry about. Also, it’s nice to walk out my door with one less thing to worry about taking.
As another example, when I visited my boyfriend for fall break, I teased him saying a trip to his apartment is like a trip back in time as he doesn’t have the Internet or cable. But, I always admit that being there is like real vacation time away from e-mail, Facebook, MySpace and 90 percent of the garbage on cable TV.
The funny thing is, I’ve never quite pictured myself as being technologically adept. But the truth is, I was addicted to my phone. Who knows what other technology I’m addicted to. I’ll never know because I would never consciously stop using any of it.
I recently made the I’m-not-a-technology-addict argument to a friend, but I had to stop myself.
“You know,” I said. “I’m not one of those people that walks around campus all the time with her iPod, cell phone and laptop. … Oh wait, I am.”
In one way or another, we’re all technology addicts. We all actually think we might die without the Internet, computers, iPods, cell phones, video game consoles or all of the above. We can’t help it. It’s in our nature, and it’s OK.
The fact is, technology is also a tool, and we’re smart to take advantage of it.
Older people always find something to complain about younger generations. For our parents, it was The Beatles. For us, it’s all this technology. The argument is that we’re obsessed with it, that we should be less attached.
They were wrong about the Beatles, and they’re wrong about technology.
I remember sitting in a class recently. Our professors were talking about how when they were in school, they used typewriters. They mentioned that it would be interesting if one of us went without technology for a week – no cell phone, iPod, laptop, Internet or TV. No one volunteered to try the experiment. If any of us did, we wouldn’t have been able to complete our assignments in that class. The same instructors who proposed this experiment also required us to submit work online, as well as use video cameras, still cameras and computer software on daily assignments.
I used to think I never wanted to be the kind of person who was very connected with technology, but I’m not so ashamed anymore. If it wasn’t for my cell phone, I would be homesick. If it wasn’t for MySpace, I would have never started talking to my boyfriend. If it wasn’t for e-mail, I wouldn’t communicate with professors and classmates as much as I do now. If it wasn’t for Facebook, I wouldn’t have reconnected with family and old friends. If it wasn’t for my iPod, I wouldn’t walk to class with a skip in my step.
There’s just no more fighting it.
My name is Sarah, and I’m addicted to technology.
Sarah Tenorio is a junior News-Editorial major. Reach her at sarahtenorio@dailynebraskan.com.
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