B E B E R E

Made it home last night, weak and regressed to a preverbal state. Landlord was waiting around for me with a gift: a new cellphone (prepaid) with a couple little phonecards to go with it. Explained how to put the thing together (finally, a sim card!), set it up to charge and let me go. Went into my apartment, plugged my new appliance in to charge, sobbed a bit.

I'd had a cellphone for years until it became apparent that everyone thought I had to be accessible all the time with it. Got tired from the upbraiding I'd get if I turned the blasted thing off to get a moment's peace. Also, noted that I was seeing 'rate creep:' my initial $29.99/mo plan kept getting upped every few months by about $4-$5, so that by the time I decided to chuck the thing, my plan cost nearly nearly $50.00/mo.

Of course, it was a pain in the rear to have to find payphones when I needed to call someone. Dealt with it, though. Had considered getting a little prepaid phone, but never got around to actually comparison shopping or anything. Wasn't interested enough, I guess. It took my getting locked out of the house one Sunday afternoon to actually get Landlord on my case about getting cellphones and updating the keys left with neighbors. The key thing got done pretty quickly. Of course, the cellphone waited. And waited. And waited until last night.

I do have to admit - part of me is annoyed at the feeling of being tethered by this bit of technology again, but another part feels a bit warm because of the thoughtfulness of the gift.