I Didn't Know I Was So Dependent...

i didn't know i was so dependent upon a cell phone. i've thought to myself many times that i could live without a cell phone. i did it for the first 21 years of my life. i still believe i could do without a cell phone, but this past friday i was made aware of how cell phone dependent i'd become.

my friend adam asked me to meet him at the state fair after i got off work on friday. i left work at 3:30pm, 30 minutes early than normal, and headed for the fair. i flipped open my cell phone to tell adam that i'd left work, but my phone kept loosing its signal and wouldn't complete a call. i figured tower in the area was either down or being serviced and i kept driving towards the fair with the assumption that my phone would start working as i got closer to the fair which was over 25 miles away from my place of work.

i get to the fair and my phone still doesn't work. it is nearly 4:20 and i couldn't imagine the network being down very much longer. with this assumption in mind i paid $10 for parking and $14 for my fair ticket and proceeded onto the fair grounds ready to find adam and his girl friend lauren. an hour and a half went by before i quit trying to reach adam. i tried everything i could think of. i borrowed cell phones from people working the information booth. i put quarters into a pay phone only to hear a message that the phone had been taken out of service six months ago. i spent the next hour and a half doing my best to enjoy the fair by my self. it was a better option than leaving. heck, it cost me $24 dollars to get into the fair and if i left i would have been jumping into the middle of rush hour traffic.

after looking at cars, eating a sausage on a bun and fried cookie dough, and washing it all down with a root beer and lemonade, i was able to use my phone again. once more i was plugged into the world around me. no longer feeling lost and alone. i ended up getting a hold adam, who had left the fair around 5:00 because he couldn't call me on his cell phone, and we met up at my apartment for an hour before he finally decided it was time for he and lauren to drive back home.

i didn't even plan on going to the fair this year, and i think i would have been better off keeping it that way.