My iPhone stopped working a week ago. The touchscreen, which has been cracked for about year, is no longer operating. I took it to UBreakWeFix, but a replacement screen did not fix the problem. I went to AT&T and purchased a new phone, but the staff said they could not set it up if the old phone was not working. I’ve also forgotten my AppleID password, and resetting it kind of requires that the old phone work.
During my first day phone-less, I was furious. I wanted my phone to work NOW. I tried to set up the new iPhone myself. Fail. I tried to reset my AppleID. Fail.
Later that day, my credit card was declined at Aldi, so I called BofA from Deb’s phone. “Hello, I’m trying to find out why my credit card is being declined…”
“Sir, we can’t help you unless you call from the phone on file.”
My blood pressure instantly went through the roof. “Really? Well, that phone is broken. I’m calling from my wife’s phone. What if I told you my mother’s maiden name, or my birth date, the make and model of my first car, my social security number, the name of my first pet, or the name of my best friend from eighth grade?”
“Sir, I can’t even access your file unless you call from a phone number on file. You need to add this phone to your profile.”
I hung up.
Deb and Joy decided to steer a wide berth of Dad for the rest of the day.
But it’s been a week now with no phone. And I feel good. Yes, I need my phone back. I need the Zelle app, as well as the phone call feature, my contacts, voicemail, clock, alarms, calendar, camera and photos, email, texts, PayPal, PNC, GPS, Google, Facebook Marketplace, iTunes, Instacart, and YouTube for Joy.
Joy wakes up at 7 a.m. most mornings and heads to my phone for her early-morning screen time (YouTube reels). She was irritated last Friday when she woke up and there was no phone on Daddy’s nightstand. So she climbed into our bed and cuddled with me and fell back to sleep. She has repeated this ritual almost every day. I love it.
I’ve started wondering if there is way to live without the iPhone. Ed Sheeran does it. Arnold Schwarzenegger does it. Can a freelance copy editor do it? Probably not. I need to check email at least every two hours. I need to receive phone calls (I don’t call anyone), and I need texting. Or I think I do.
My screentime reports say I spend an average of 4.5 hours a day on the phone (some of that is Joy). What could I accomplish if I had an extra 4.5 hours every day?
I lived without a mobile phone for 41 years. I didn’t do the smartphone thing until 2012. Yes, I had a flip phone until the summer of 2012. When I get my phone working (tomorrow, I think), I need to turn it off more often. And I need to keep it off my nightstand, because: cuddling with Joy.
We all need to learn to live without the iPhone. Because as you may know, in all postapocalyptic scenarios, cell phone service stops everywhere.
The photos below are from PrideFest.
Joy Elizabeth 