<<Incoming call!>>
Grandma got a cell phone. Note Fig.1.
Fig.1:
Grandma talks to me via the speaker capability on her new cell phone this evening.
Now, I realize I've already blogged an entry about my grandmother getting a facebook profile, but this is huge. The technology wave has washed over her, and the baptism into a tech-savvy grandma is complete. Ok, well almost. She'll work it out. I'm just waiting for the day I get a text, "Hi hnnie. Whtz up?" Do it Grandma. I believe in you.
As I congratulated her on her new induction into cell-phone life, I realized that she has not had a cell phone all her life. Recently, I have been sans cell phone, first while I was overseas in Ireland, and then this week as it has been broken.
I don't know how I've survived.
Cut to my Grandma at a CCU meeting (Celibate Cell Users):
"Hi, my name is Jan, and I'm a first-time cell user. This is my first cell phone. I've been without one for 70 years. I really, really want to quit not having one."
It makes me stop a second and realize: I still have my friends even if I can't chat with them every five seconds. My classes go on, I am able to work and figure out more creative ways of doing things--like scheduling a meeting and then simply GOING there without calling 5 times to check if I'm still meeting that person. Walking without being on the phone is a) safer and b) allows me to enjoy the sunlight. No, seriously. We use our cell phones so as to avoid talking to each other where we actually are. Hmm. Food for thought.
So, you might be wondering: if Grandma's gone without one for so long, why get a cell phone now?
She wants to look cool at the airport.
Oh, Grandma.
She chatted with me briefly tonight from Omaha, Nebraska, my hometown, along with my aunts and my mom, from the dining room table. In my family, this dining table is the cornerstone of long talks and rollicking laughter (that may or may not be accompanied by some fine wine and French cheese plates which my mother assorts in various beautiful patterns). My heart ached to be there with them, with my own version of the YaYa Sisterhood.
I wasn't really there--I was in my apartment on Sheridan and Kenmore.
But my little voice was floating on that table, coming out of Grandma's cell.
You press send whenever you feel like it, Grams.
Especially if you're waiting for a plane.
<<Call ended>>
Very cute story.
Posted by: Jeffrey | March 19, 2008 at 10:22 AM