I have several that all connect together. The core of it is actually an extension of one of my resolutions for 2010. L has a Blackberry. I have a silly version of a smartphone, which I chose because L needed a new Blackberry and we were combining plans and since we were having to pay for all-inclusive service for his phone, I figured I might as well have access to it, too. So a lame Sprint touch-screen phone is what I went home with (note to any Sprint customers out there: don't waste your money on a Samsung Instinct. It works, but it's lame and I miss my ghetto white flip phone).
While it doesn't have all the bells and whistles and fun apps that other smartphones out there have, I do still find myself playing with it in public, often on the Metro if I'm by myself (although sometimes I'm happy to just pull it out and play regardless of whether or not I'm alone). It has become my preferred method of accessing my Facebook account. And I realize it's INCREDIBLY rude. I draw the line at pulling it out at the table- I legitimately make an effort to only do that to silence the phone or for a very specific purpose (for example: looking up directions to wherever the next destination is). I'm not always fail-proof at this, but I do try REALLY hard because I loathe when others do it to me. It really does make me NEVER want an iphone or Blackberry... I'm sure they are great to have and lots of fun, but there's lots of people out there with them that are just so bad about pulling them out all the time (including L... he does this out of habit now and doesn't even realize when he's doing it. During the 18 months he was living here and I was in Austin, he became obsessed with checking sports scores, although luckily he is making an effort to curb this habit), but I'm slowly but surely joining you, especially if I'm with someone at a restaurant and they pull their phone out first... that's when I hear a little voice saying, "It's not rude if they are doing it first". Note to self: YES, IT IS. I'm glad my lame phone doesn't have Words With Friends because apparently it's like crack. I digress... My original resolution around this was to stop using my phone at the table, so of course I'm going to keep that up. My first official sacrifice for Lent was not using my cell phone for anything other than calls or texts. No more internet or Facebook via phone for me. No more pictures on it (which I also realize is probably a good thing for the rest of the world. Honestly, I've come to realize that if the person I'm trying to share the pics with didn't ask to see them, they probably aren't that interested).
Closely related to this is no Facebook at all for me. This pretty much is already negated by not accessing it by my phone anyway, but I figured I might as well go ahead and round it out to none at all for the time being. I've been really good so far- I've only almost forgotten twice. Yes, I miss the witty updates and knowing THE INSTANT that someone has a relationship status change, etc., but I don't miss the oversharing of a specific friend about the extremely graphic and personal trials, tribulations, and body changes that come with pregnancy and being a new, single mom who is trying to breast feed. (If you are wondering why I don't just remove that person from my newsfeed, it's because it's such a train wreck that I can't. I am always wondering what she could possibly post next that would top whatever I've just read.)
Finally, I also gave up talking on the phone in the car completely. I don't log nearly as many hours in the car anymore since I work from home and am not within driving distance of any of my friends or family (okay that's a lie- I have like 5 friends here but they aren't the ones I am wishing I could visit), but that doesn't stop me from whipping my phone out 90% of the time when I am in the car running errands. Effective as of Ash Wednesday, my car is officially a "No Phone Zone". Thank you, Oprah. It's actually illegal to talk on your phone while driving in D.C. unless it's a hands-free phone, but that hasn't stopped me before (to be fair, 99.9% of the time it's an accident and if I'm still in the District I hang up as soon as I remember that I'm breaking the law, but usually I'm already in Virginia by the time I remember). I almost had to break this today because I had to drive L to the airport and simultaneously had an impromptu conference call for work to discuss some big changes, but L didn't want me to be forced to break my Lentin promise, so he drive, I rode in the passenger seat and talked, and luckily, the call wrapped right as we got to Reagan. I've also discovered that no talking on the phone in the car makes picking up people at the airport very difficult. I honestly wonder how people did it before cell phones. Thank goodness Reagan has a cell phone lot where I can park and talk or text if I need to.
I realize these aren't the usual things people give up. I feel like for me, it's too easy to give up sweets or cokes or coffee or some other "vice". Giving up meat would have been interesting, but as the meal-preparer most nights, I think we should both try and make that commitment together. Maybe another year. For now, I'm trying to make my life less focused on electronics. A large part of this is probably that I already have so little REAL communication with my friends and family since they are so far away. Emails, gchat, and Facebook just are not the same as actually talking. If I'm going to use my phone to email or send someone a message on Facebook, I might as well just call them instead if it's really that important. So I'm hopeful that this will not only help me really re-connect with the important people in my life but also help me be safe while I'm in the car.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, L gave up cokes. Really that means he just drinks bourbon on the rocks and a lot of tea and water. And milk. The boy loves a tall glass of milk with dinner.
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