Can You Function Without Your Phone?

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I left my phone at home when going shopping at least once in the last ten years. I don’t remember trauma, but then I was probably with John at the time. One phone in a group is much better than none. I was half way to town today when I realized my phone was not in my pocket. I had put it down to take the dog outside and failed to pick it up again. There wasn’t time to go back without being late for my appointment.

What exactly could I not do? If something happened to the car, I wouldn’t be able to call a neighbor for help. The only telephone number I had memorized was John’s! David would have many helpful numbers in his phone, but I couldn’t dredge up his number in my head. I couldn’t easily tell what tine it was, because I couldn’t see the clock on the dashboard. Ready entertainment would be lacking while waiting for the appointment. That’s about it! It wasn’t as dire as I first thought.

Luckily, my brain’s map function would get me where I needed to go. I had my wallet, so I could pay for things. I could also prove I was driving legally, having my license in the wallet. I could also prove that I didn’t need glasses to drive, as stated on the license. The two cards were in the wallet that showed I’d had cataracts removed from each eye.

I arrived at the address, looked at the clock on the dashboard before turning off the engine, and found I couldn’t see it at all. I remembered the camera names each photo with the date and time, so it had to have a clock function. That was in settings, and I found I had fifteen minutes to wait.

I could see the door to the office in the car mirror, and the CLOSED sign was hanging there. All I had to do was glace at it from time to time to know when to go in. It didn’t change when I thought it would, so the camera showed me I was three minutes late. I twisted around and found I was looking at the wrong door! I had failed to realize the car was parked on an angle, and I wasn’t looking straight back. I rushed in quickly. My apology was accepted as we moved onto the business at hand.

My phone hadn’t missed me! No calls had come in, and only a few notifications showed people had sent messages. I escaped with no harm done, but I’m not likely to forget the phone again soon. How easily would you cope if you had left your phone behind?

Below are wildflowers neighbor Joyce and I saw while walking. She knows lots of local ones and shares her knowledge with me.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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29 thoughts on “Can You Function Without Your Phone?”

  4. We are all now so dependent on phones, iPads and laptops. How did we manage even 10 or 15 years ago when the phones were not nearly as smart and all they could do was make and receive telephone calls? I have been known to discover I’ve left my phone at home and have driven home again to pick it up

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  5. we are always depend on phones. Maney years ago we are all work manage without phone . It’s very funny happened to you.

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  6. I get great pleasure from not taking my phone out with me unless it’s a long journey. No constant beeping to inform me of incoming messages or emails, no temptation to sit staring at it and so missing what’s happening around me. I have a wristwatch to give me the time, and can acknowledge those around me with a nod or a smile., those whose eyes are not glued to their own screens anyway. My conversdations can be made face to face instead of remotely.

    But of course there’s a price to pay for this when I get home and see what I’ve missed. On baalance it’s a price I’m happy to pay.

    Massive Hugs from damp Wales Anne. I hope you have sunshine where you are.

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    1. I liked your opinion on leaving your phone at home. I don’t look at mine when I’m riding in the car or am with other people.

      It’s raining here today. I won’t walk or work in the garden. Huge hugs from one cloudy place to another.

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  7. Quite well, actually. Randy is always ragging on me for not answering a text or phone call. Unless I leave the house, I don’t have it on my person and pick it up if I need to use it. I turn it off at night, and sometimes forget to turn it on the next morning! I kept it with me and turned on during his recovery, but he’s back to normal now, so I don’t carry it currently. 

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  8. I can survive without it a few hours, but it’s my connection to others so it feels strange when I forget it at home.
    It’s amazing how many phone numbers I had memorized 20 years ago and now can barely recite five😅.

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  10. I am fine without my phone. I only use a flip phone for calls and text. I also carry a small phone book in my purse with important numbers because the only numbers I have memorized are my husbands and my own.

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  11. Anne, I have still not learned how to text as for years I have used a small flip phone which I carry with me whenever I leave the house. Last year I invested in a Lively Smartphone (formerly called a “Jitterbug”) as I wanted a phone that had internet to know what was gong on in bad weather, due to more and more volatile weather situations here in Michigan and I don’t like sitting here with the laptop on monitoring how close severe weather is. This phone is good as I can download apps and I do like the auto-complete for e-mails if I take a picture to send to myself at Comcast through Gmail but I have a horrible time trying to type on this small keyboard. I’ve not tried texting either but I will eventually. Every time I hit a letter it is either wrong or I hit it twice.

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    1. You might try dictating. When no one is around, that’s what I do. You speak the punctuation as well as the sentences. You do have to proof read it, though.

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      1. OK, I will try that Anne – thank you for the tip, because it is pretty abysmal how long it takes me to type something and get it right. I thought I would load a few apps on the phone since there is some new Google two-step authentication for new apps coming soon per an e-mail from Google, so just to test if it worked by putting in my logon and password took longer that I should admit.

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  12. I treat my phone just like my old land line, so it usually stays home when I go out, unless I am meeting someone and might need it for a message. I don’t use its internet function at all unless we are traveling. Too many years of having to deal with 30 + phone calls each day at the office!😂

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