Easter 2017 will be rather memorable. Two members of the family namely my significant other and our younger son had their pockets picked and cell phones were stolen. Like many of his generation this19-year-old is a 'phoney.' He eats, sleeps and breathes his cell phone. He was like a cat on a hot tin roof when the phone went missing. No sooner had he lodged the routine police complaint did he start making arrangements to buy a new one.When I say arrangements, I mean monetary arrangements - He did not need any assistance in choosing a new phone. His father was not too thrilled about the idea of purchasing a new phone so very quickly and suggested that he use the discarded tablet. Our young man was adamant. The tablet did not meet his needs and a new phone with a memory as big as an elephant was what he needed. Grandmothsr and mother together with a dip into the young man's nest egg have contributed to RED ME note 4 by Xiaomi.through a flash sale.
I fondly remember the jet black rotary phone or landline perched on a shelf in the living room of the house that I grew up in. We were one of few families who had the good fortune of having a phone at home.The phone was a source of absolute joy - We called relatives and friends, dad booked work related trunk calls from that phone, I spent some idyllic hours in teenage chatter on the machine and recall dad sternly asking me to hang up. The neighbours made calls and we received calls for the neighbours.
There was gloom when the phone went out of order because restoring it back to working condition took awhile. A neighbour would have to register a complaint from his/ her phone and more often than not it was a game of patience and a few more calls till the phone worked again.
The phone helped you to speak to and hear from your near and dear ones. There was no question of family disintegration or addiction. Even today we could be perfectly happy and healthy as long as we control the use of the cell phone rather than let the cell phone control our lives.
