Life Before Cell Phones

We'll admit it: We're addicted to our cell phones. Texter, phone-number-keeper, web connector—today's cell phones are all that and much more. So how did people ever survive without them? Like this:

Movie Theater Meeting
Now: If you're looking for your friends, you text or call them and say, "I'm next to the popcorn machine." When they call back and say, "We're at the popcorn machine and you're not here," you say, "No, the other popcorn machine." Within minutes you've found each other.

Then: If you had plans to meet friends, you established a noise or call that would signal your location. For example, perhaps you periodically yelled out, "Fee Fi Fo Fum, I'm Looking for Someone," and, as in a game of Marco Polo, your friends eventually found their way to you.

Locked Out of Your Car
Now: You call your mom or dad and listen to them lecture you about "being responsible" and how owning a car is a "privilege, not a right." After about 10 minutes, they agree to come meet you with an extra set of keys.

Then: You hiked to the nearest gas station pay phone to call your parents... only to realize you had no change. Then you begged the guy in the gas station to loan you a quarter, and he'd hint that he'd give you the lousy 25 cents in exchange for a date.

Chat with a friend in a different class
Now: You turn off the keyboard sounds on your cell and covertly send text messages with your hands hidden beneath your desk.

Then: You and your friend planned in advance to go to the bathroom at precisely 1:23pm. Then, so as not to raise the suspicions of over-attentive teachers monitoring the hallways, you slipped a note (folded up into a tight, little package) into your friend's hand as you passed her.

Directions
Now: Let's say you're headed to an away game to cheer on your school's team, but get lost trying to find the opponents' high school in a nearby but totally confusing universe. The person with the "smartest" smart phone pulls up a GPS-powered map of your location. Before long, you're back on track and make it to the game with a few minutes to spare.

Then: You and your friends tried to "sense" which way you should be headed. You realized you were way off track when you lost reception for your favorite local radio station. You finally made it to the game... just as everyone was heading home.

Swapping personal info
Now: You're on vacation with your family or hanging out at a local food joint when you meet a cute guy or girl. Overcoming your awkwardness, you manage to have a fun conversation. Then it's time to go—but you're hoping this connection could be real. So you ask for his or her number, put it in your phone right then and there, and hit "call." Now your Romeo or Juliet has your name and number too. So easy.

Then: Same situation, but this time, when you ask for the guy or girl's number, you were faced with a problem: finding a pen and paper, which sort of ruins the moment. Or you could try to memorize the number on the spot. If you found a pen and paper, you risked losing the number when you stuffed it in your pocket and forget to take it out before tossing your pants in the laundry. And if you didn't write the number down, chances are, you forgot it.

Are you too attached to your phone? Or do you like doing things the old-fashioned way?

Related Post: Cell Phone Obituaries