Accidents DO happen
What a cluster.
What an ABSOLUTE CLUSTER!
This is what I did on Saturday morning at work. I stupidly left my iPhone 6 on the front bullbar of an Ambulance while becoming caffeinated and chatting. I went inside the station, forgetting my phone was on the front of the ambulance and the crew whe were logged on in that unit went on a job. With my phone on the front of their unit. They would have had no idea my phone was there! Some kind soul handed it in to the Caltex servo – after removing the cash that was in the case – to be fair though, it may not have been the person who handed it in who took my cash.
No big deal. Really. Its just a phone, right? WRONG!! Actually it is just a phone, but really, it’s so much more…
My phone has my Apple Pay on it. My emails. My login’s and passwords for all kinds of shit – because at my age it would be unrealistic to remember so many passwords. Sooooo many passwords!!! DAMN!
Just to really cause havoc, my key card and my credit card were both in the case, along with my driver licence, Z-Card and bouncefit pass.
When I realised I had lost my phone and all of it’s contents, I had a minor-mini-meltdown, then immediately canceled my financial cards, already thinking that someone would be madly traipsing shopping venue’s, swiping my payWave card, stocking up on durries and beers. Thankfully though, the local’s have a moral code of some description. They took the money but left the important stuff – cards and ID. But the cards are now cancelled and new ones on the way. I’m surprised at how easy it was, given that I bank with ANZ and being one of the ‘Big 4’, they are notoriously difficult to deal with, normally.
It has got me thinking though. I’m so connected. I am so very reliant on modern technology. I’m ‘plugged in’. I do EVERYTHING on my phone and without it, I am somewhat at a loss. My mobile is my connection to people and important things. Like most people of my generation and younger, I don’t even have a landline anymore. It’s mobiles all the way, and they make us…..mobile.
My family live far and wide. My parents are elderly. My kid (Jecca) is overseas. There are so many ‘what if’ scenarios that bolted through my head like a herd of Darryl Braithwaite’s Wild Horses. What if something happened to Mum? What if something happened to Dad? What if something happened to either of them and they couldn’t get in contact with me, because ‘no phone’. Then there is Jecca. She is in Paris right now and with the ongoing terrorist attacks combined with the time differences and sheer physical distance between us, I’m a bit stressed!
My social life is ‘connected’ via my electronic devices. Organising catch-ups, dinners, coffee dates, shopping trips and all the other fun crap I do – all dependent on my iPhone and connectivity. I access social media from my phone – facebook, messenger, Whatsapp, Insta, Snapchat – all modes of keeping in touch with friends and family whilst on the move and mobile. My ‘foodie’ apps are all on my phone – BigOven, Tasty, Zomato – and of course, the continual tags in facebook posts for new cafe’s and food truck events, all while mobile.
My finances – again, its all electronic. IPhone has this amazing ‘Apple pay’ which utilises my thumbprint for authorisation. I could go almost anywhere and pay for goods and services with my phone, with no need to carry a purse or wallet full of useless plastic. Without my phone, I still have my cards – except I keep my cards in my phone case. I don’t know why I do that but will have to change that behaviour!
I keep track of my bills, do my banking, transfer funds, make purchases and investments on my mobile. I didn’t regularly check my shares, but with the destruction of my mobile came the angst at what was happening with the market – and how could I possibly check without my precious apps?!! I needed to transfer funds from my regular bank to my holiday account which is with a different bank, but without the ease of the app, found I had to go and access my now rarely used laptop to do so.
And what about realestate? I want to relocate early next year and my mobile has the reals estate app that I access the property market through and whilst I was being totally ridiculous, the bizarre ‘what if’s’ about this flooded my mind also? Really? And email? I have my three email accounts through two providers, for different purposes. My dad often email’s – so how was he going to email me? (God forbid he text me – that lends itself to a game of ‘decipher the text of Anni’s Dad’, and its always amusing deciphering the text messages of an 80yo!!)
The Solution
This happened Saturday and I knew I would not cope until Monday without my connectivity and mobility. I went roller skating Saturday night, without my phone and it was always a concern in my mind about not being ‘contactable’. I couldn’t even take a sweaty red-faced selfie or send a sneaky Snapchat of myself whizzing around the rink!
I am reliant/dependant on my mobile device. I can manufacture and justify any excuse in the world for having a mobile. I do and I will.
In evaluating my options, I thought I should check with my service provider and see when I could get a new phone on my plan. BOOM! I was able to access a new phone under my plan in January, 2017! I waltzed on into the Vodafone store, located a salesman and showed him my destroyed device. He stared with wonder in his eyes, then the mirth kicked in, he threw back his head and let out a belly laugh. Thanks dude. But he did help. He was wonderful. He was able to get my sim out, put it in a new phone for me and after 10 minutes, I was connected!
The relief I felt at being connected again was palpable. I felt an actual sense of relief, knowing I was now ‘contactable’ again, sort of. I’m actually a bit disgusted with myself for being so reliant. Am I really that weak? I don’t know how I became so dependant on my technology but suspect it is because of the ‘ease’ and ‘mobility’ it allows. I bet I am not alone in this…..
Behold this thing of beauty!!!
My gorgeous rose gold iPhone 8. Hallelujah, I love you.
The Story of Anni 