Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Slave to Our Conveniences.....

And notice I said "our" in the title, because I refuse to travel this road alone.

Remember way back when, before there were cell phones that made us instantly (and constantly) available? Remember when you often traveled from work to home and were out of contact for that exact length of time, and people had no other choice but to call you back? On the HOUSE phone? That may or may not have had a CORD attached?

Sometimes I miss those days. But I cannot (or will not) voluntarily return to them. Occasionally I will go out to the pool without my phone, and sometimes I will go walk in the park without it, but more than likely I have my phone with me at all times.

Hubby wasn't home when I got home from school today, so I took a short (but luxurious) nap. He woke me when he called the house phone. I was only slightly irritated that I had to get out of the recliner and walk approximately four steps to answer it.

When I hung up, I wondered, "Why didn't he call my cell phone?"

"Why didn't I get my cell phone out of my school bag?"

"Why isn't my cell phone in my bag where I put it?"

"Where is my cell phone?"

"CELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL PHONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE!!!!!!"

On any other night besides a Tuesday, I might have shrugged my shoulders (my twitching shoulders) and said, "Oh well, I left it at school, I'll get it in the morning."

But Tuesday night is the night I teach online, and sometimes students can't figure out how to log in. Even if they just logged in last Tuesday, the entire process is a mystery to them. I needed my phone. I'm not supposed to let them have my home phone number, and it would only confuse some of them at this point anyway.

I was going to meet Lawanda the Warrior Princess at school, because she has A) a key; and B) the code to the alarm system. I've been terrified of school alarm systems ever since I set one off at a school where I was legitimately working on a Saturday. Put that in the same category as my fear of riding lawn mowers.

That would mean LWP would have to meet me at the front of the school, unlock the door, disable the alarm system, walk all the way to the back of the building, fetch the phone out of my classroom, walk back to the front, arm the system, and depart.

Luckily, however, Tuesday night is also the night our board of education meets, and our principal stays at school until the meeting starts. I went back to school and went in the front while Hubby drove around to the back so I wouldn't have to trek all the way back up there. I retrieved my phone, jumped out my window/door (I haven't yet figured out what to call it), and everything was right with the world.

I COULD have survived the night without my cell phone. Really I could have.

But then I would have to write a blog post full of other drivel.

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