Tuesday, August 30, 2022

A story about the cellphone

  I traded cellphones and suddenly found myself with a lot more time on my hands.

The new phone is allegedly light years ahead of the old clunker, but my sudden liberation had nothing to do with technological efficiency.

The new phone doesn’t work. It doesn’t cooperate with my hearing aids. It won’t let me read my newspapers.

The first day was bad. The second day I sensed possibilities.

Don’t get me wrong. The phone is useful technology. It has many tools, which I’m unwilling to give up. But it had also become a tool for fidgeting — and that I can do without.

Montaigne said that when the ancient Cretans wanted to curse a man, they prayed that he would catch a bad habit.

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