Yesterday, I had an unplanned adventure.
I left my house late yesterday and forgot my iPhone. I realized my mistake about half way to work, which was too late to turn back. “Ah well, I guess I can live without it for one day,” I thought.
What proceeded was a nightmare…
At about 9:15 AM, I left for my appointment located in an unfamiliar part of the city that is sprawling with factories, desolate parking lots, roads without sidewalks and broken payphones. Upon getting lost trying to find my destination (Mapquest, you suck), I started stressing because I couldn’t call my appointment to let them know I was running late. I also couldn’t call my office to make the call for me or get any assistance. Fun!
At exactly 9:50am (10 minutes before my appt.), I finally see someone that I can ask for directions. YAHOO! I asked, “Excuse me sir, could you tell me where Milton Street is?” To which the polite, but unfortunately rather unhelpful gentleman replied “No hablo Ingles.”
Knowing that a 45 minute pantomime session was out of the question, I sped off trying to find my destination. After five minutes of sweating (combination of nerves and high blood pressure) and more driving, I saw Milton Street. Thank you, God.
As I pulled the car over to make a U-turn to head back toward Milton Street, I hit a curb – not once, but twice. Instantly I knew my day had taken a turn for the worse. With the sudden pulling of the steering wheel to the right, my fears were confirmed: I had a flat. I had two flats.
At this point I only really had one option, so I grabbed my laptop and projector and hoofed it to my now nearby destination.
I recount this story on our blog because I want to stress how different my day would have been had I remembered my iPhone. I could have used my phone’s maps/gps to find my destination. I could have called my appointment to let them know I was running late or to get directions. I could have reached my office for help. Heck, I could have even called my sister who speaks Spanish and let her talk to the guy who could have given me directions!
I have heard a lot of people recently (not sure why) talk about how things were possibly better before cell phones, email, texting, and the gazillion other ways we communicate today with each other. People can feel or say what they want but I must admit, I would have loved to been able to text someone on my iPhone yesterday.
Was life better before cell phones? Do we rely too heavily on technology? What do you think?
http://451heat.com/2010/03/19/my-unplanned-adventure/
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Etiquetado:CellPhones, Handhelds, IPhone, iPhone 3G, Mapquest, Mobile phone, Smartphones, Text messaging
