Life wasn't always this way. We weren't always wired to each other; in constant communication. In fact, for more than the first half of my life I often took long road trips with the full knowledge that if something went wrong I would be at the mercy of *gasp* strangers who stopped to help and would need to get to a payphone in order to call someone I knew. As a young, single mother I often travelled the 6+ hours between my home in South Carolina and my parent’s home in West Virginia with little more than some snacks for the road, music to listen to and gas money!
And now I worry what might have happened in the twenty minutes it took me to drive a mile and half, pick out bagels, pay for them and then drive home!
In the spring of 1999 I was 25 years old and dating DH; Baby Girl was in 1st grade and Monkey Man hadn't even started school yet. Most days were spent helping DH with his auto repair business; Monkey Man and I would spend our days there until we drove across town to pick up Baby Girl from school. One day DH took Monkey Man with him to test drive a vehicle without telling me – it happened to be right about the time I had to leave to pick up Baby Girl from school. I left not knowing if Monkey Man was with DH or lost in the woods somewhere behind the business – the whole drive across town and back I prayed that Monkey Man was OK and with DH. It was terrifying! DH had a cell phone, but I didn't. At that time they really were more of a luxury item and something DH had only as a business owner.
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| Cell phones from the early days... My first phone was the third one from the left! Source: Wikipedia |
When I got back, Monkey Man was just fine, of course. But that incident changed my life forever. Because of it, DH bought me my first cell phone. These were the days before unlimited everything, before text messaging, before smart phones! Heck, we still got on the internet with a dial-up connection through AOL that we paid for by the hour! I was one of the first of my friends to have a cell phone – and I've had one ever since. Now, my cell phone is the only phone I have! And I can get messages through calls, email, text and internet connection!
Cell phones have changed my life and our world in ways I’d never imagined possible back in 1999 (and that really wasn't all that long ago). Heck, when I had to pick ten things to take with me if I had to leave my home forever, my phone was #5 on the list!
I can only imagine the technology that will come into use in the rest of my life! It’s somewhat mind-boggling…
For the month of April I will be blogging each day with a letter of the alphabet as my theme as part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Today's theme letter is C!
What technology has become common in your lifetime that still amazes you?
