Addicted...

I have prided myself on not being addicted to any 'bad' things in life. Yeah, Yeah, I understand that addiction of any kind is wrong, bad, damn me to hell sort of stuff, but I am not addicted to illegal substances or alcohol. (Since I am above- well above- the age of 21, this substance is not illegal but still on that very bad list). I do laugh about my 'addiction' to Dr. Pepper. I honestly cannot go longer than 4 hours without one. I do laugh about my 'addiction' to physical affection- no goodnight kisses from my girls each night can send me in a tailspin. But yesterday I did discover an addiction I did not realize I had.

Is there a meeting for "Technology Addicts"? Let me explain. On Saturday afternoon my phone fried. I mean fried- possessed. It was flipping from one screen to the next, I could see that calls were coming in- but I couldn't answer them. I could try to text people to let them know my phone was fried, but it kept cutting me off after two words and zapping away my message. I cried, I laughed, I got really pissed off! I had never realized how dependent I was on my cell phone. I have many friends who don't even talk on the phone anymore- we just text. A line here, smart aleck comments there. On the weekends, this goes on for hours- on American Idol nights, Phil and I text back and forth with C. and J. for a couple of hours. Phone calls make you miss things, texting allows you to multi-task. Plus, I don't know anyone's phone numbers anymore. They are all plugged safely into my contacts list on my phone. Do you know what happens when you don't have phone numbers? You can't even use the archaic land line because you don't know what number to call.

The frustration was intense, the need for medication was rising. And then, the white knight arrived! Verizon. We had switched to this cell phone provided in October. Phil hated T-mobile, I am apathetic- I think most cell providers suck in one way shape or form. My family is on Verizon, and so are a lot of friends, which makes calls free. So switch we did. Verizon was able to find us local numbers- something T-mobile was unable to accomplish in almost three years. We got great deals on new phones- and they give teachers a discount on everything. But the biggest white knight moment occurred on Sunday.

Phil and I drove over to the store expecting to have to purchase a new phone- $100 not in the budget. So we were bummed, but knowing that the cell phones are our main source of communication with one another- there wasn't another option. I walked in and met Jose. Jose was dealing with a gentleman whose puppy had decided to bite through his Blackberry, and was able to multi-task and help me at the same time. I was amazed I could still stand- after all, customer service is non-existent these days- much less finding someone who could actually handle two customers simultaneously. Jose asked me what happened. I explained that my phone was fried, that I was lost without it, that I had only had the phone since October, that I did not abuse it by throwing it across the room or submerging it in water. I didn't push it past it's limits- hell, I don't even know how half of the functions work! He asked for the phone- which even with it not working, I had a hard time handing it over. Then he left.

I began to panic. The Verizon man took my phone and left. He went behind the security door. I began to sweat, my stomach began to flip in a very bad way. What do I do? The man has my lifeline. After what seemed like an eternity. He came back and handed me a brand new phone. He told me my contacts were switched over, to call customer service to get the ring tones I had downloaded re-downloaded for FREE, and then asked- Is there anything else I can do for you today? Holy crap.... I love Verizon! My addiction is back. I am reconnected to the world. I am happy.