Ah, the age of the mobile phone. I remember getting my first one. I was 16 years old and it was, of course, a trusty old you-can-drop-it-as-many-times-as-you-like-and-it'll-still-work Nokia. One of those ones with changeable covers and a function where you could create your own ring tone by pressing the keys to play different notes. And the game of Snake! Oh the hours I wasted playing that. I'll never get them back you know.
But the point is, I was thrilled. Because now, not only could I ring my friends when I was, like, out of the house and stuff, but I could TEXT them too! A little thrill of excitement would surge through me when I heard that familiar beep heralding a new message. Who was it? Was it that guy I fancied? Had he put a kiss at the end? If I replied, did he have enough credit to text me back again? (Luckily I never had to worry about my own credit situation as I went straight onto contract. Thanks mum!)
A whole new world had opened up to me. If you met someone new, you could give them your number. (Or miss call them so that it showed up automatically on their phone... how exciting!) Not the house number, or your mum's number, but your very own precious eleven digits. When your mum thought you were upstairs in bed and asleep, you could really still be communicating with people, and she'd never know! (Until she got the bill that is...) And you'd never miss out on gossip again. In short, getting a mobile phone was probably one of the best things that has ever happened in my life. You can judge me and sneer at me all you want but that feeling of inclusiveness was priceless.
Having had two long-term, long-distance relationships in the last seven years, not living with one of my parents since I was 12 and having lived over 200 miles away from home at uni, it reiterates how important mobile communication is for me. It can dampen the pain of having the people I love so far away and a simple call or text from someone can completely change my day. Since the invention of mobile phone cameras and multimedia messaging, I can see something that makes me smile and send it instantly to that friend who popped into my head. For all these things, my mobile phone is, and has always been, precious to me.
But I feel like I might have missed something somewhere. Mine is not the opinion shared by all. In fact, sometimes it is quite the opposite. Without naming names (some of you may be reading this blog!), I have met many people in life who, although they own a mobile phone, almost refuse to be contacted on it. I mean it's like they have it just for the purpose of NOT answering it. They simply just ignore it when you call or text them, and then never ever get back to you. It's as if you trying to reach out to them in a friendly "How are you?" way is really, really rude and how dare you interrupt their day by making their phone vibrate?!
I find this really odd. I mean of course, I'm not completely insensitive. I realise that many situations in life mean you can't answer your phone or ever have it with you. At work, on a date, at a wedding, or simply spending time with your family or your partner, I understand that you aren't going to text me back straight away. I really, really do. But think about it. If you went on holiday for a week, the first thing you would do when you got back to work would be to check your emails and reply to them. You couldn't do it last week, so you're doing it now. Well, erm, why can't you just reply to me when you're finished being busy? It's not much to ask!
If I came up to you in town and said "Hi! How are you? Haven't seen you in ages!", you wouldn't stare blankly past me and walk on (I hope). You'd engage in conversation. Why is it so different when I text you?! This especially bugs me if I have asked an important question I need an answer to, like "We're meeting up tomorrow, I've been trying to get hold of you for three days to find out what time you'd like to meet. TEXT ME BACK!" This happened to me recently... don't get me started.
I once had a conversation with a friend who, although she uses her mobile phone for many things, including business, properly resented the fact that this little device meant she was seen as constantly available to people and that people expect you to reply to them. Well, yeh! That's why we all have mobile phones! If you really hated it that much, you would learn to live without one.
I know that "real life" is far more important than any life we may lead through modern technology, and I'm not so sad as to think all my relationships are based on my text conversations with people. But we have to face facts that it's a mobile world now. And I would also like others to face facts that sometimes, it's just really bloody rude to ignore people. So try not to anymore, eh?
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