Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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August 27, 2010

How to Feel Twenty Years Younger

by Fae Rowen

First, I should say that I'm on my fourth cell phone--in my entire life. My service provider sent me my third phone after numerous letters offering a "free" upgraded phone. I didn't bite. I wasn't going to pay for a phone with some camera. When they sent a free phone I called them to find out how to return it. Turned out my second phone was so old that in three days it would no longer be able to decode the satellite signal.

Well, Saturday I finally joined the modern world and purchased a "smart" phone. Now I understand why it's so named. It is smarter than me, that's for sure! The young man who sold it to me said as I left the store, "Just play with it. You can't break it--unless you throw it on the floor or drop it in the toilet." Like a twelve-year-old-boy with a new electronic toy I rushed home to download free apps and my music library. Couldn't figure out how to answer the darned thing when my friend called, but, what the heck. I spent what was left of Saturday and all day Sunday between my phone and my computer. And I had fun! Why had I waited so long?

Monday morning after I made a call a message asked if I'd like to lock the sim card. Now, my security frame of mind is on high alert since my laptop, iPod, and camera were stolen on a trip a couple of months ago, so of course I said YES! I gave a password, re-entered it and felt quite smug. Until I tried to call another friend ten minutes later and couldn't get the phone to do anything but demand a PUK code. I did start to feel sick when I got the warning about so many more tries at my password until I had to call my provider.

Yep, you guessed it. I fried my sim card and had to traipse back to the store for a new one. How embarrassing is it to hand your phone over to someone less than half as old as you? New sim card installed, I returned home to read the tutorials and manual--and regained some of that twelve-year-old-with-one-purpose-in-life focus. Three days later I can take flash and zoom pictures and post them to my new Facebook account and e-mail them to friends. And I feel like an accomplished fourteen-year-old adolescent.

Meeting with (younger) friends today for lunch, I showed off my new phone and its glam case, only to have it grabbed out of my hand as they loaded apps that they wanted me to have to make it easier to connect with me. Apps I had to pay for! Now I'm not THAT old, but I used to write code for computers when you only used on-off to get everything done. I am so far out of my league it's not funny. But, when one of my friends said, "Heh, you look younger." And the other one said, "Yeh, I think it's the phone," I thought, "Yep. Definitely worth the money."

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