Monday, July 8, 2013

I've Become That Person



Isn't it funny how you do things that you swear you'll never do.
When I finally broke down and got a cellphone a couple of years ago, I swore I wouldn't be that person.
That person that is walking around chattering while picking out produce.
Texting in the checkout line.

Nope, not me.
I won't answer a call when I'm driving.
Or return a text message at a stop sign.
Nope.

Yep.

I've turned into that person.
It's been bugging me a lot lately that I've been so connected to the phone, and distracted with it.  
I've tried checking it in the am, turning it off, and leaving it be til noon.
It worked for a day or two.

I'm a hypocrite, because I can't stand when I see people doing the very thing that I've been doing.
The other day, I swear, this young woman walked right in front of my car at the grocery store parking lot while she was looking at her phone.
I seriously felt like giving her a little tap with my bumper.

Are you guys sick of everyone's heads in their phones?

I so don't want to be that person.
I also don't want to pay nearly $90 a month to do it!

This was the clincher.  
Now, y'all know I have ADHD.  I really don't know why they call it Attention Deficit.  I do not have a deficit of attention.  I have a problem with OVER attention.  I know everything that is going on.  I'm aware of every conversation around me, and the traffic, and the air conditioning running, and the fact that the label in my shirt is itching my neck.
 It's a problem of filtering things out, is what it is.

Glenco and I picked seven gallons of sour cherries, and when we were up in town, I stopped at JoAnn fabrics to get some cherry themed fabric to make little toppers on the jam jars.  I know.  Cute, right?  

SO...I'm on the phone pulling up some JoAnn coupons, we are in the fabric line, Glenco is talking to me, but I hear the cutting gal telling a customer that the store is closing.  I interrupt Glen and tell him 'omg, the store is closing', while I'm on the phone - 

He just looked at me.

Aaron - who is more mature than I am at times, yesterday scolded me for checking email while checking out at Target.

They are right.

When we got home, I took the scooter to the local cemetery.  It's an old, old cemetery a few miles from here in the woods.  I needed to be there.  There's an old cement bench that I sit on and think.

Could I discipline myself to leave the phone be?
Nope.
I've really tried. 

Could I just live without it?
I did fine without it before.

Sure, it's convenient.
Yes, it's expensive.

I spent about 15 minutes in the cemetery pondering this.

I came home and called T Mobile.
I no longer have a cell phone.

As of right now?
I like it.
My brain feels calmer.

IF and when I go back to a cell phone, it will be something with a few minutes and a 100 texts a month or something.  It will be cheap, and it will stay off unless it's an emergency.

I'm $90 a month richer, and my brain is a heck of a lot calmer.

Carry on.

18 comments:

  1. Tough decision to make, I still have the "old" cell phone, I don't text and very seldom does it ever ring.......I still refuse to get one of the fancy "dingleberry" phones......I keep mine because my husband is disabled and when I leave he can reach me. Kudos to you, I know I have things in other areas of my life that would be equal in "toughness" to do away with, but I am a WIP...."work in progress".

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  2. I applaud you~
    I only have a cell phone (no texting) because we don't have a land line out here.
    But, I agree, with you.
    I, too, want to enjoy the relationships, conversations, and beauty around me :)

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  3. Good for you!

    I use mine to basically stay in touch with the kids - other than that it's in my purse.

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  4. Way to go girl! Not so much for just ditching the phone, but being disciplined enough to know that you couldn't discipline yourself where the phone was concerned. I have one, but it is a pay as you go and if I was on it all the time I couldn't afford to have one. I just use it for VERY important stuff and only a handful of people have my number. But if I had a newer phone where I could access my email or FB, forget it, I would be the girl who mall security cams recorded her walking through the mail as she was texting and she literally walked into a reflection pool!

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  5. Ninety dollars a month! I have a smartphone with T-Mobile and pay $50 a month (no contract) for unlimited everything - and that's not a special deal, that's their everyday price. If you decide to go back to having a phone, git yerself a better deal than what you had!

    your cousin Debbie (can't find my sign-in info)

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  6. I just have a trac phone for just in case! I really get tired of hearing peoples phone conversations in public. With my job working with the public sometimes I will say when you are done with your phone let me know and I will wait on you. I can't believe the amounts of money families are spend for phones.

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  7. Kudos to you for cancelling. I use mine for emergencies only. I probably need a new one but I don't want to spend the $70 a month they want to charge me.

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  8. Amen! Linguists are concerned babies aren't getting enough verbal interaction with their parents who are too busy talking/texting others instead of talking to their babies. A therapist friend of mine said most of the kids she counsels says that their parents don't talk to them, but are on their phones! More folks need to wake up to the dangers of this strange addiction!

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  9. Oh Boy! I can't believe you did that. How will you keep in touch with Aaron? I assume maybe he has one too? We have had a family package for a long time. Hubs recently took the kids though, to get the new iphones as an upgrade. I was at work that afternoon. No, I did not upgrade mine. No internet, apps or better quality pictures for me. Its ok. I only really use it for quick texts with the kids, pictures and security too. I am definately not one of those that has it attached to their ear 24/7. Thank goodness. We have unlimited text, so that is why my kids probably still have conversation with their Ol Mom. I'll take it! Good Luck Jayme.

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  10. You are right on!! I am concerned that our grandchildren are not learning their communication skills because parents have their "technology" attached to their ears and their eyes on some little screen. It is frustrating. Moms and Dads, please look at your children and talk with them.

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  11. That sound you hear is me applauding. If only more of us were that strong. Technology drives me crazy, but I use a cell, an iPad and a laptop. I bow before you, Lady, you are a tower of control in my eyes. First that amazing weight loss, letting Aaron leave, and now this. Hedy

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  12. I applaud you . . . a HUGE step . . . I never thought I would be, "one of those" cell phone/texting persons. I must admit, I am more connected to a cell phone than I ever, ever expected. I am in my daughters family plan, the iPhone was free and my cost is very low compared to the cost I was paying for, "just me." Am I "hooked?" More than I expected, but not really. I seldom get a text, message or ring. I use the camera more than anything. Like in anything . . . balance is a key. I don't let the phone control me . . . I think I have found an even balance and control.

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  13. My kids wonder why I don't take my cell phone everywhere I go. I get really perturbed at people who are talking on their cellphone in public like they are having such an important conversation that everyone around them must listen. I don't text because I really don't care to tell everyone I am in checkout line eight waiting to get groceries or that my cat coughed up a hairball today or any other inane information people text. It is an addiction and I really get upset when I have a meal at a restaurant with someone and they keep checking their texts like something more important might happen than sitting and eating and having an actual conversation. I tell my children and grandchildren our home is a cell free home when they are visiting so that we can actually talk to each other. Oh, my, sorry, Jayme, but this is a subject that really hits a nerve with me.

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  14. One of the reasons we got our cell phones was we were in the process of our first adoption and waiting for our referral call. I agree that it does get the way. I do not use it while shopping and never in a checkout line because I see people barely acknowledging the people that are waiting on them. I have always that that the height of rudeness.

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  15. I did that 2 years ago...now mine is mostly for travel. It is very calming. whole new world.
    jan

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  16. I have a tracfone, I've had one for years. The new ones ( I just had to get a new one) have triple minutes on them. It cost me 42.00 with tax, you buy a 60 min card for 20.00 and you get 180 min. It lasts me a long time because I only use it when I have to. Each card you add extends the time that you have to add another, right now I don't think I have to add any minutes until 2015!

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  17. Lord, if you only knew. My husband takes his with him to the bathroom. I mean, what could be that important?

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  18. That was a very brave decision. Sometimes, I think I would like to do the same thing... Then I realize how connected I am with friends and family over texting and pictures and the like. But good for you!!!

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