I have always thought I was a strong young woman and that I possess the mental prowess to deal with emotional and intellectual matters, but these last few days have been hell on earth for me, not exactly like hell on earth in quote, but mental torture and probably emotional stress, you may be wondering why, it is because my phone crashed last Friday.
Usually, my Fridays are not so busy, I close early at work and this gives me free time to use the rest of the day to tie up loose ends and finish up other responsibilities I may not have been able to do earlier on, I had closed from the office and headed down to church to continue my spiritual responsibilities, all was going well until suddenly my Whatsapp shut down, followed my Kingschat app, and then my phone’s screen went off, all efforts to return the screen to its normal state proved abortive and I had to restart the phone, there began my woes.
The phone which usually restarts within 60 seconds took over 30 minutes to boot and yet, it never came on, and thus I went an entire weekend without the phone. I had to switch to a small tecno phone, (the palasa kind of phone) to at least be able to receive calls, just imagine having to ask everyone that calls to introduce themselves and then explaining that my phone crashed, it always leads to questions after questions, “how did it crash, what were you doing on it, what did you download, what were you watching, have you tried rebooting, bring it let me see”, whew! It is a lot of stress having to explain myself and tell them I have tried this and that, and even followed the manual on how to reset it, yes, I did it all, permit me say in pidgin English, “e no work, I try am taya”.
I took the phone to Carlcare for repair, as I still had my warranty functional, (the phone was barely five months old), I met with a customer care agent who was mostly rude, I guess she was upset that I came to make use of the warranty and all she kept telling me over and over was how I would have to pay if water had gotten into the phone, if the phone was not bought in Nigeria or if the phone had been repaired before, “sis, see the phone pack right here, I got it through Intelligra”, still she kept talking, finally she said I have to return after seven working days to pick up the phone, and then she would let me know if I am to pay for it or not.
Well, it has been hellish, I must confess, fortunately, I am able to chat on Whatsapp using my laptop but the inability to post a whatsapp status is getting to me, yes, I am a social media lover, I love to express myself on my social media platforms and the lack of my phone has held me bound. As a communication person, my phone is the first hand PA that brings all information I require to my fingertips, I had thought that I would be able to go through the entire week without the phone but I won’t deny, I feel as if a part of me has been paralysed, I am finding it even difficult to coordinate myself and even to carry out activities, I am at my wits end on what to do, the best I can do is just to write, I think it is safe to conclude that my phone is my second love.
For a millennial, our phones are like our babies, it is not just an addiction but also a part of lives, it is a part of us that is very difficult to let go of and being without a smartphone is almost as similar as being without love. Heartbreak hurts but really, staying without phone can leave a mark in your life. Thank God for my laptop, I cannot imagine returning to the Stone Age in the 21st century.
By Ajayi Titilope
