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she normally pick you up every afternoon?"
"Yes"
"Did she tell you she would pick you up this afternoon?"
"Ummm, yes."
"Sooo...why are you calling again?"
Confused expression on face.
"I don't know."
"Uh huh. Get back to work."

Another version of this addiction is the ringing cellphone in the middle of the school day.
I actually allowed a student to answer their phone one day. I really needed to know who was calling this child in the middle of the day, knowing she was in school. It was another student, at another school, bored, in class.

Where was the teacher?

The student on my end got her phone back at the end of the day. I told her to consider it an intervention. I was taking it from her for her own good.

Then there's my husband. I love him, but dammit, why did I buy him a phone? His messages (I refuse to actually have a phone conversation with him, as my time is precious to me) run, on average, 45 seconds, and usually involve intricate details about where he is, what he's doing, why he's there, when he'll stop being there and probably go somewhere else, if I need for him to be anywhere in particular, whether or not any of the children require to be given these details and asking what will we be having for dinner.

Sigh. The really scary thing about those conversations is...we've usually already had them. in person, during our morning commute. He apparently sleeps through them. Or, we're having communication skill issues. I'll make a note to work on that with him.

Using a phone as a connection to the world, truly does mean you are isolated from it. This need to always talk to yourself via your bluetooth or to text until your fingers are numb, indicates a level of loniness that is frightening. Its says "look at me, I know people, I'm not actually standing here alone on this corner. I have a LIFE!"

Yeah, right.

Is there a way to remedy this? I hope so. In the meantime, my phone is turned off. Its full of messages from people who wonder why I never return their phone calls. People telling me they just called to say hi and that they really didn't want or need anything from me. People wondering why I even own a phone.

I'll call them back later. Maybe.

Learn more about this author, C.S. Stone.
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