When I was growing up and just starting to get phone calls from friends, waiting for that phone to ring was always an exciting time. In my home we had a “phone table” built into the wall in the center of our 1938 Spanish-style house. The phone had a short cord that went deep into the wall. Fifty-foot extensions weren’t popular yet, and cordless didn’t exist. So when the phone rang, we ran to answer it from whatever corner of the house we had been anxiously sitting in, afraid to leave for fear of missing the call. It was a simpler time. Or was it? I have found that even though technology has changed just about everything we do, the way we wait for that call hasn’t changed one bit. In fact, it’s even worse.
I recently became email pen pals with a man I was very interested in. We were emailing daily, but our schedules were off. He would email at two or three in the morning, so I got into the habit of waking up and checking my email immediately – even before coffee (this is huge for me!) What makes this worse is that I now have a Smart Phone, which alerts me when I get a text, a call, or an email. I set that alarm on Bells, so every time I heard a ringy-dingy, my heart would skip a beat, and I’d check to see if it was him. I kept my cell close at all times. It was in view whenever possible and, when not, it was certainly within earshot. This went on for almost six weeks! During this time I saw similarities to the heroine of a novel I’d just started reading.
This story depicted a slightly aging (33) spinster in early 1800s England. She was living with her sister when a handsome, single doctor came to town to take over the retired physician’s practice. Constantly suffering from “episodes,” she misinterpreted the young doctor’s medical attention as romantic interest, consequently believing that a proposal of marriage was imminent. She sat in her drawing room for weeks, nicely dressed with frequently pinched cheeks and alert (almost psychotic) eyes, waiting for him to come ask for her hand. Weeks! (Sound familiar?)
Suddenly, I saw myself as a young teen, jumping up from the couch in our den every time I heard the phone ring. Worse yet, I saw myself two hundred years ago, sitting in a drawing room catching my breath every time a carriage went by. Finally, I understood that in this area, technology wasn’t making my life easier.
The realization that basic behaviors, with regard to matters of the heart, haven’t really changed for centuries didn’t comfort me the way I had hoped it might. It would all seem normal if I were in my 20s, but at my age… shouldn’t I know better?
Julie’s New Year’s Resolution #537 – Turn Smart Phone alarm off! (Insert coy, girlish giggle here).
Write to Julie: writelove@sbcglobal.net