I took one of those silly "what's your age" quizzes the other day and apparently my "real" age, based on some questionable questions, is 27! I know. Go on - have a laugh. I've taken other quizzes where I was put at the other end of the spectrum - 83, to be precise. I don't put a lot of stock in them, as you'd imagine.
However, one of the questions (my response to which, probably snagged me the "27") was "Can you live without your phone". The three options were something like "Absolutely not", "Sometimes I deliberately leave it at home", and "I don't have a phone". (Don't you hate it when your real answer isn't available?)
I responded "Absolutely" which of course, I'd imagine, immediately put me into the phone-dependant Millenials group. The irony is, I have about two apps on it, both of which my 11 year old installed; I have a whopping three albums loaded and since I always forget to carry ear buds around, I never listen to them; I don't get daily updates of international news, stock market activity or weather forecasts either. Nobody ever calls me; half the time it's still on "silent" from during the night and I never even notice.
In short, my phone is the most under-utilized I-Phone on the planet, and yet, as the mother of three, I can't not have it with me, because if I do -
- the school nurse phones; usually it's "not an emergency Mrs. Expat" but it would be nice if I could come and pick him up when convenient. It's a complete mom fail if you turn up half an hour before dismissal and your poor child has been lying in the sick bay for hours when all he wanted to do was curl up on the sofa with a blanket and your sympathy.
- the college girl needs an important piece of information (which is only ever in my head),
- or someone from "back home" is trying to get in touch with me. Expats always pick the phone up, no matter what time of day or night it is.
- someone asks me if I can help at school next Tuesday, or whatever, and I say "yes" thinking that since I usually don't have anything going on, I'll be free. Get home to find out that I'm supposed to be waiting in for the carpet cleaners that day.
How about you? Are you glued to your phone?