The Time I Lost My Phone… For Half a Year

The worst period of my life happened over the summer before junior year. The memory marinates in my mind, clear as day. School ended, and summer soccer had started. The summer had started off great- I hung out with friends, I was saving up for a car, I had a job, etc. Everything felt like it was going in the right direction. Then, one random day, my mom decided she wanted to go through my phone. My stomach dropped, I felt so anxious, I was sweating, and I knew then and there that it was over. I gave her my phone and the next 24 hours were spent balling my eyes out.

My parents told me that I was going to be without a phone until they decided I was ready to have one again. This was frustrating because there was no set date that I could look forward to. It was all up to them. So, the next early morning summer soccer practice, I announced to my friends that I was without a phone. This was more embarrassing than anything else. To say that I was 16 years old and did not have a phone was kind of ridiculous. Immediately after, my friends asked how I they were going to contact me. I told them I had no clue. That night, it really hit me that I had no way of talking to my friends. The only times I really saw them that summer was at soccer practice and games. I soon became depressed. The time immediately following this decision was a very tough time for me. My driving privileges were not taken from me, but where was I going to go alone? The beach, lunch dates, gym trips were all out of the question. All of them strongly suggest a friend. And because I had no way to contact them, I became very lonely.

A week or two weeks after the big decision, I had settled into the idea and came to terms with it. I was still depressed, but learned how to go through day to day life things without a phone. During summer soccer events, instead of becoming as embarrassed to say I did not have a phone, I joked and laughed about it. I had decided to not care about what everyone thought of me. So what if there were seniors that thought I was babied? So what that people talked about me when I was not there? So what if I wasn’t popular or cool? I was so focused on what people thought of me that it hindered me of being happy. I didn’t even know if that was what people actually said or thought about me! I just assumed everything and it stopped me from being myself. I went the whole summer being pretty sad and alone.

Once school started, I expected to have my phone back, but did not. The first day of school I had so much anxiety over my lack of phone. What happened if the teacher needed us to do something on it? What happened when everyone was on there’s at lunch? What would happen if I needed it to get out of an awkward situation? But instead of worrying all day, I found that I was making fun of myself. It was easier telling someone I did not have my phone currently and making fun of myself while I was at it. Laughing about the situation also helped me to understand that what I had done was wrong. I then understood why my parents had done what they did. I came to terms with their decision.

Half a year later, I got my phone back. This decision was not some grand, superb moment. Because I was without a phone for half of a year, I learned to live my life without one. Sure, I had missed it (a lot), but I was not dying without it. Once I got my phone back, I often times forgot it places. This would almost be laughable to other people my age. A 17 year old female not having a phone? Yeah, that is unheard of. Talking and thinking about the whole incident makes me laugh now. Me and my friends constantly recall the time I lost my phone for six months, and it does not bother me one bit. Instead, I laugh.

Photo by jdbradway on Trend Hype / CC BY-NC-ND