Iconoclast: criticizes or opposes widely accepted beliefs and practices.
I guess you could say that was me. Well, if you looked at my cellphone you could. You see I don’t own an iPhone 5S, Galaxy s4 or even a Blackberry Q10. In fact, I never have.
My cellphone of choice is a LG Keybo. Color? Pink. Yes, pink. See, I told you I was an iconoclast.
But, as Ben who directed our recent videos, likes to say: “Here’s the thing.” I love it. Probably too much.
However, this week tragedy struck.
A quick bit of background for you: I first got my pink phone when everyone else was lining up to buy this new-fangled technology of a smartphone. I chose it because everyone else had black or gray phones and I wanted something different. Now I’m not into all things pink – I’m a tom boy and really don’t like being stereotyped with colors – but there was something about this phone that I liked. Perhaps it was because it had a keyboard that for once let me hit the letter I meant to hit when texting instead of the three other letters around it. I dunno.
There was just something about it.
And I have loved the phone since they day I activated it. Don’t get me wrong though, just because I loved it doesn’t mean I took care of it.
It’s been around the world. I’ve dropped it more times than I can count. Even down the toilet. But with a little TLC, a bag of rice and a quick word with the Almighty, it has survived and worked. And I am so grateful.
If I’m honest, part of the reason I love it so much is for what it doesn’t do.
It isn’t smart. It doesn’t do email. It doesn’t have a touch screen. It won’t surf the internet very effectively. And it’s not 4G. Whatever that means.
Anyways, enough of that. My world slightly shifted on its axis this week.
My pink phone died. It gave up the ghost. Partially anyway. Its second screen doesn’t work. So although I have functionality I can’t actually use it blind.
All the way from Winnipeg – my phone’s second chance!
The good news is that help has come from afar. Well, Winnipeg. And that’s quite a long way away. I digress. Help came in form of a friend who actually had exactly the same phone as me – but had retired it into a drawer. So it has worked its way across the country and I now have a like-for-like replacement.
Which is good news in many ways.
Not only can I stick stubbornly to my pink phone, but I can also avoid the intense pressure to upgrade, shelling out for a new data plan and (best of all) avoid the pressure of a slick salesman trying to get me to buy the latest gizmo.
I’m not saying I’m anti-technology. Clearly, having joined Snapchat and as the owner of two iPads, that isn’t true.
It’s just that I want my phone to be a phone. I don’t want to be able to retrieve email or surf the web anytime anywhere. I like being able to disconnect from this crazy fast—paced world. I actually think one can be too connected.
For me, I need downtime to relax my brain and give me times of pure simple dreaming … on my own … not with the help of Pinterest, Facebook or YouTube. They have their place but not tied to me 24-7. Plus, that’s what my mini-IPad is for to support those hypocritical times when I just HAVE to check my email.
But best of all, if I’m completely honest, I love the fact that my pink phone is a conversation starter. People get so riled up and love to express their opinion about who I am and “how could I NOT have a smartphone?” So truthfully, I love how it appeals to the rebel in me.
Of course I could get a smartphone which is “all that and a bag of chips” but for now I’m refusing.
My pink phone fights to live another day.