Saturday, February 9, 2013

Cellular Identity

What's up with this photo?
     It used to be said that you can learn a lot about a woman by looking inside her purse. I figure that we need to update the saying to reflect contemporary 21st Century values. I say that you can learn a lot about a lady by studying her phone.

     For example, you'll quickly notice that my cell phone is not a smart phone. It's not even a swivel phone or a flip phone. It doesn't have a fancy keypad and I can't send text messages with it. What does that tell you about me? Either I'm completely and decidedly counter-revolutionary and am trying to make some kind of statement ... or I can't justify the expense of getting myself a smart phone.

     Even though Steve Jobs would have been ashamed at the wireless I carry, I still believe that you could learn quite a bit about me by browsing through my contacts.

     For example, you would see that my spouse's phone number is entered under Phillip Sexy Man. You could either conclude that I have a healthy desire for my husband, or that Phillip is something of a jokester and that he is the one who set up my phone when he first got it for me.

     You would also find that the phone number to the Poison Control Center is set to speed dial on my phone. Obvious conclusion? That I am a mother with at least one toddler in the house. (We've used that number on more occasions than I care to recount. I am expecting a Christmas card from their phone nurse in 2013.)

     Even though my phone isn't contributing to the late Steve Job's estate, we do have several iProducts in the home. And if you really wanted to learn more about my family, all you'd have to do is look through our apps.

     Seventeen different math games? Yup. We homeschool.

     Two dozen audiobooks? Yup. We "read" in the car.

     The Adventures in Odyssey website bookmarked? And several Odyssey downloads? Yup. We're hooked on the show.

     Even though you might be able to glean a lot of true facts about our family if you were to study all of our little wireless gizmos, I'm still not sure you'd have a complete picture of who we are.

     The collection of classic books I've got saved on our Kindle don't explain how my love for Russian literature led to a mission trip to Russia, which led to me meeting the man I'm now married to.

     The family pictures I've got stored on my iPod Touch won't tell you about the miscarriages I had when I first got married.

     And the fact that my iPad has no less than four Bible apps doesn't necessarily mean I'm as disciplined at studying Scripture as I should be as a mature Christian woman. If I were to judge you based on the apps and phone numbers stored in your phone, I might be prone to making mis-assumptions as well.

     Maybe our relationships would go a lot smoother if we spent less time judging each other and more time talking to each other. And if you ever need a listening ear, you can call my cell phone.

     Just don't try to text me.

What about you? What does your phone say about you? (Feel free to leave your comment below.)



    


3 comments:

  1. ... I don't have a cell phone. What does that say?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. that your husband might be inconvenienced if you and I spend more than two hours on the phone together.

      Delete
  2. =0D Yup. I'd say that's a pretty good analysis.

    ReplyDelete