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A Youthful Calling
Oh that I had been born later
in an age more prone to cater
to the new technology
that simply doesn’t gel with me.
I must ask. Is it me alone
who can no longer use the phone?
What every eight year old has mastered
makes me feel completely plastered.
Those buttons simply don’t make sense.
They leave me rattled, shaken, tense––
uttering words you’d find uncouth.
I do not glorify my youth,
but bygone memories do linger
of dials that fit a human finger––
phones simply used to call a friend
instead of apps that never end.
iPhone? I fear I’m not a fan.
I want a phone I’m smarter than.
The Prompt today was “Youth.” In the weeks since my internet has increasingly become nonexistent, I’ve been relying on my iPhone to furnish a hotspot to post from. Unfortunately, for the past few days, as my phone registered its full limit, I’ve been waiting for my usage to flip back to 0 MB, but alas it hasn’t. Finally I went to Telcel where I was assigned to a young man whose knowledge of a little English rendered him understanding of my faulty Spanish and, like a gift from the gods, he informed me that the 1 GB was what I’d used in the past year, not in the past month, and he downloaded an app that will keep me informed of my month’s usage and flip over each month. (In addition, I learned that the price of extra MB’s is 25 cents Mexican per MB which is less than 2 U.S. cents! So, I’m back to 1 MB usage and a bit less tense about the fact that I’m beginning my second week of no wifi. Telmex (the phone company as opposed to Telcel, the cellphone company––both owned by the near-richest man in the world, Carlos Slim) was closed today so I’ll try again Monday. Perhaps I’ll just cancel my internet and landline and opt for more MGs on my phone. It, at least, seems to be consistent in its service.
Before I left Telcel, I quipped to my young “savior” that along with their better understanding of Smart phones and iPhones, I have a feeling that future generations are going to be born with one little pointed finger more adapted to those tiny buttons on the cellphone. He laughed and assured me that I’d become accustomed to them, but I have my doubts. So, that is the backstory to this poem, as after leaving the Telcel center in the mall, I went to the food court which has free wifi and wrote the above poem.
If I’m not commenting on blogs or posting as much as before, this has been why. May wifi at home be in my near future. So far my complaints have not brought action.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
oh! the frustrations with something we didn’t even know about a decade or so ago. Thanks for this, Judy. And you know what else: any two or more people sitting at a table in a restaurant and none of them talking or even looking at one another.
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We won’t do this in PV, right? No phones at the table.
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right!
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Today, our ISP went down. Not just WiFi, but the telephone, the Internet, AND the TV. That’s the problem with being dependent on one source. So … I had to use the cell phone. I hate the cell phone. It’s got it’s uses, but making phone calls isn’t one of them. Early cell phones — and ironically, we were early cell phone adopters because Garry really needed to be able to communicate from anywhere to everywhere else. Those early phones were great. Heavy and clunky and big, but I swear you could connect from anywhere on earth (or maybe off the earth) to anywhere else they had telephones. AND you could actually hear the voices on the other end. AND wonder of wonder, they could hear YOU, too. How come new cells can’t produce voice quality like the phones they made 20 years ago? They’ve traded audio for a zillion apps I will never use while dumping the only function I ever cared about. Not only are you not alone, you are in great company. I don’t understand why they have abandoned the basic purpose of the device — communications — so you can listen to a tinny version of a pop song.
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I totally agree with you. I have the iPhone 6s and I cannot handle how small the buttons are. I should have gotten the 6s Plus. At least it’s a little bigger. I don’t even attempt to post from my iPhone. I use my iPad if anything other than the computer.
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I don’t post from the iPhone.. I just use it as a modem to post from my MacBook Air.. because Telmex seems to have dropped me from their service if not their billing structure.
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Oh, I’m sorry. I failed to remember you saying you used it as a hotspot.
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True enough …! I feel it too. I have been using iPhone since about 2007? Not really sure? I still have an iPhone 5. Last year I switched to Android. A Galaxy Note 5. With an ability, to write on the screen with the S-pen. Which can then be easily turned into text. Many other features too. With a large screen and keyboard, it is much easier to use. Yes the iPhone has a large 6s and so on. I looked long and hard at it last year.
Now while it is a little difficult integrating it into an Apple setup. It’s not impossible. I am very happy with the Note 5 and am now drooling over the Note 7. which sends it up, by another two notches. Still with your laptop or whatever you write on. You can use airdrop onto the iPhone then send out your posts as you describe. Get rid of the home internet and perhaps the company will see dropping revenue source? Which seems to be the only way you can truly get their attention, these days. I bought a bluetooth speaker. which means listening to music from a device, is much better audio quality. Or even headphones … mine are Bose. These days there are many choices. My son seems to swear by LG, another android device. Android is so much better than Apple now. Cheers Jamie.
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All the best!
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Oh how I agree! I’m fighting to keep my ancient mobile that wouldn’t know an app if it saw one. Don’t even understand what hirundine608 is talking about. My very small grandchildren know more about iPhones than I do. Just another example of the world saying ‘You’re old. Die’. But I’m stubborn.
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No.. Don’t listen to the world!! We other mortals need you.
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Ohh, poor you! I HATE doing stuff with my phone and I’d die if this was all left to me. I hate writing on it the most, it seems so limited and my 10-finger typing skills are lost. The one to finish my words and sentences for me has not been born yet (*wiggles fist*). But of course, if this is all there is it’s still better than nothing.
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At least I don’t write on my phone–just use it as my router. I can’t think and type on those tiny little keys at the same time. It takes too much mechanical concentration.
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