One Gen X'er's iPhone Rebellion

One morning in 19...I mean when I was 24, I was blasting up the 405 and my hot little RX-7 quit. Just like that. It had never stranded me before. My boyfriend was with me and we'd been drinking Jack Daniels until about 4am and hadn't slept yet. It was now something like 8:30 or 9:00. No, I wasn't doing drugs, if I had been I'd tell you. Anyway, if this situation happened today; your car conking out on the freeway nowhere near an exit, far from home, what would you do? God forbid you leave the house without your cell phone. This breakdown happened in a time when we didn't have cell phones. The very rich had "car phones" welded to the center consoles of their 500sl's and 750il's, freedom of movement about as far as the driver's seat.

So, on a cold, gray morning in Torrance, I got out of my car and walked. Actually we, my boyfriend was with me. It was a 15 minute walk to a pay phone. I called a tow truck, had my beloved silver rocket towed to my mechanic, and that was that. We handled it. And we handled it pretty much the same way for ages until about 13 years ago. But...omigawd, what if my car broke down," we say to each other, over and over, justifying the one extra bulge we now display in our pockets and purses.

In my humble opinion, 1997-98 was the line of demarcation of technology. It was the year or two normal people started getting cell phones and computers with internet. Dial up. And cell phone use was horribly expensive. My worst cell bill was over $1100 in 1999. Actually it was more like $1200. Maybe it was more. That would never happen today.

So here we are a few years later, light years away. We not only "need" cell phones, we "need" iPhones. I've been a holdout. When I first became a top producer in real estate, I bought a Treo 650. What a leash that thing was. After it, another PDA with a larger keyboard and screen, this one Windows based. During my real estate career, blabbing 3000-5000 minutes a month wasn't unheard of. When this was all over, I no longer wanted a cell phone. I cringed every time I heard one ring. And that of course, is a lot. I kept threatening to throw my phone into the Pacific Ocean, and many times have left the house without it deliberately.

About 2 months ago was the turning point. I periodically take "technology breaks," a week off from the internet. I'm about to take another one. Or not. Anyway, I know...the Sultan of Segue. Long story short: I got stuck in the elevator in the parking garage. Pitch black. The magic button merely produced a voice that said "no one there." For the first time in days, I had my cell phone on me. And it was fully charged. I called 911 and was surprisingly calm. I then called everybody I knew and told them I was stuck in an elevator. We all laughed about it. I wasn't afraid, there was a fire station a block away. And then they showed up. FOUR firetrucks full of HOT firemen!

I realized that old people are the ones who detest every shred of progress, so I decided to open my mind. And here it is. No, I didn't go through gymnastics to get a "4," frankly this one will do way more than I need. The gps/traffic thing is worth the cost of the thing, which wasn't much. All told, this will be $15 a month cheaper than my clunky Nokia. I know, I'm rationalizing.

So, I've crossed from the ones who don't have iPhones to the ones who do. Funny, I don't feel any different.