CONVERSATION WITH…An Older Mobile Phone

/ overthehillontheyellowbrickroad

I walked for miles and miles Over the Hill on the Yellow Brick Road and finally plopped down on a park bench. I was exhausted. A moment later, an older mobile phone sat down beside me. I sighed. The mobile phone asked:

mobile phone

MOBILE PHONE: What’s wrong?

Well, I don’t mean to be rude, but a mobile phone is the last thing I need to see right now.

MOBILE PHONE: Why? What did I do?

Nothing. It’s just that you’re a painful reminder of my daughter’s move to the other side of the country. My relationship with her has been reduced to text messages and calls on a phone like you.

MOBILE PHONE: Don’t I know it. Social media is killing me. I’m constantly working. Why do you think I look this way? Smashed screen. My keys don’t tap properly. My battery is dying. I need to retire but my owner isn’t due for an upgrade.

I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve never looked at it that way.

MOBILE PHONE: And I’ve never seen it through your eyes. What’s bothering you about mobile phones. We’re working our butts off for ya.

Do you really want to know?

MOBILE PHONE: I can take it.

Here goes. My daughter will text me about something that makes her happy. Like, last week she had a surprise birthday party. She texted me a photo of herself with her friends, but I didn’t get to hear everyone shout “Surprise!” when she walked in the room. I missed that moment.

MOBILE PHONE: Uh huh–

And when my daughter isn’t feeling well, she calls me. I can hear her raspy voice on the phone, but I can’t be there to give her tea and toast.

MOBILE PHONE: Uh huh–

Last night was the worst. My daughter made herself a nice dinner. She texted a photo of it, but I couldn’t be there to taste it with her.

MOBILE PHONE: Right—

And over the weekend, my daughter sent a Snapchat of herself at the end of a marathon she’d just run. But I couldn’t watch her cross the finish line.

MOBILE PHONE: But–

And about a month ago, my daughter texted me when she was afraid of the out-of-control fires in California. She texted there was smog and smoke in the air, but I couldn’t be there to smell it. I couldn’t be part of her experience. At all.

MOBILE PHONE: Okay, okay. Stop. I get it. As a mobile phone, I have my limits. You can’t see, hear, smell or taste experiences you’d like to have with your daughter.

I couldn’t have said it better.

MOBILE PHONE: But each time your daughter contacts you, there’s something you can feel.

What’s that?

MOBILE PHONE: Her love.

Copyrightoverthehillontheyellowbrickroad2108

 

68 thoughts on “CONVERSATION WITH…An Older Mobile Phone”

  2. What did we do for communication before mbl phones? We get a weekly video chat from our son – we can see him, we can hear him, he shows us what’s new in his home. A virtual hanging out with our kid 🙂 But yeah, we still miss him…

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  9. Gorgeous! Brought,tears yo my eyes❤️

    On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 5:55 PM OVER THE HILL on the YELLOW BRICK ROAD wrote:

    > overthehillontheyellowbrickroad posted: “I walked for miles and miles Over > the Hill on the Yellow Brick Road and finally plopped down on a park bench. > I was exhausted. A moment later, an older mobile phone sat down beside me. > I sighed. The mobile phone asked: MOBILE PHONE: What’s wrong? Well” >

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  10. We have a son and two daughters. Our son lives 4 hours away from us, along with all but 1 of our grandchildren. Our older daughter has cut off communication with us. Now that hurts much more than just distance in miles does. I hope you never have to experience it. It’s wonderful that your daughter wants to communicate with you.

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  11. Another brilliant post! Since I as well, am in your shoes and “dealing with it”, I keep a lid on my “transitioning issues” by just focusing on celebrating the daily instant connection, as opposed to camping out at the mailbox….and the fact that my kids do connect with me and allow me to applaud them in all their choices and efforts. I love being their cheerleader…….its our job! And a confirmation of a job well done. Again, enjoyed the humor and creativity of your post!

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  12. Never thought of what a smart phone has to go through.. so they are smart but not smart enough to say NO when they think it is time for them to rest for a while. Hmm now, that sounds familiar. 🙂
    I have decided to give my poor phone some rest. May be a couple of hours every day. 😉
    There is nothing like being present in someone’s life but the closest we can get to it is through a video chat. Seeing the emotions as we talk and hearing the unsaid through their expressions. Kudos to all the hard working smart phones. We love them, don’t we..

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  17. OHH! Perfection!
    There is this hilarious TV commercial for a retirement finance bank that shows old people still working like a grandpa working as a life guard and an old granny working as a DJ at a disco. The background music is the song “Day-O” with the lyrics “Eighty-five and I wanna go home!”

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  20. Thank goodness our daughters want to stay in touch with us through their mobile phones and social media. It’s pretty special when they send a message about what they had for lunch or a special night out. It means they care enough to share those little moments. Life before mobiles must have been hell for our poor mothers!

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  21. I loved this post!! (Although I’m sorry that your daughter is so far away.) Yes, our phones can be a pain, and they are certainly overworked. But they do allow us to be in touch with those who are far away on a regular basis. And they do allow us to reach out in love!

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  23. I guess we have to learn to see the silver lining. That being far away from the children we love so much we at least get to see into their lives, hear their woes and delight and in some way, particularly to them, remain joined. But I agree I have to work not to feel hard done by – I wonder if I would have been the same in the age of the letter and postage stamp …..

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  27. It´s really strange this love-hate relationships we have with our phones. Nowadays they can do so much but it´s still not enough! So sorry to hear that your daughter lives so far away from you now – I feel your pain – and so does your phone. 😉

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