The Return of the Phone

I haven't had a mobile phone for two years. Back then, I was the guy with the phone - I always had it, I always let people borrow it, and I was getting a new one every few months because I sold them for a living. It was a slight shock, going from "the guy with the phone" in highschool, where having a phone elevated you to slightly mystical status, to being "the guy without the phone" in college, where everyone has a phone, and not having one leaves people feeling vaguely uncomfortable around you, as though you have some sort of semi-contagious disease.

On a whim (well, slightly more than a whim, more of a sudden urge that made so much sense it hurt), I purchased one today. I gave it careful consideration, because I needed to sign a two-year contract. But in the end, it's the best choice. The fact that I'll be driving solo down to Kansas City in a couple of days and the aforementioned social necessity swung the vote. It's just under $1000 that I've committed for the next two years, but the marginal utility outweighs the marginal cost.

That's the logical reason behind it. The emotional one is that phones are so damned cool. I can start a conversation sittin at home feeling hungry, drive to McDonald's, get a cheeseburger, and end the conversation sitting at home in the same spot, no longer hungry. My phone used to be an extension of me. It was my ears and my mouth that could listen and talk with people hundreds of miles away. It was like being cut off from the world without it. I think that's why I took to instant messaging so well - it was the closest I could come to being integrated so easily and so constantly into my social circle. Now it has returned.

I walk out of store where I used to work with the phone in my left pocket, just like old times. Its weight counters the weight of my wallet and keys. Once again I have balance in my pants. Once again I have balance in my life. It comforts me. I've become re-acquainted with an old friend who had been gone so long I hadn't even realized I missed him. Am I addicted?