No Mo Phone

...No phone...

Panic. Frustration. Anger. Depression. Boredom. I was without my phone for 45 minutes at the grocery store. That meant no access to my grocery list (sucks), email, texting, music, games, internet, and phone numbers. The checkout line never seemed so long.

Apparently it’s not just me. Lots of people get anxious when they lose their phone, or it runs out of battery. So much so that British researchers have named the phenomenon: “Nomophobia”, the fear of losing one’s mobile phone (no-mobile-phone phobia, clever). 

We’ve become so dependent on having the world in our pocket that being without is so foreign it’s scary. Apparently Nomophobia can sometimes rival the anxiety of getting married, or starting a new job. I’m not quite there, but I know people who are. I also know people who refuse to carry a smartphone, so their phone is never more than a convenience, and not a way of life. Meanwhile I may buy a spare iPhone sometime soon to ensure I never, ever go without ever again, ever.