The Bloom is Wearing Off

Did you ever see the movie version of "He's Just Not That Into You?" I recently watched it again while doing laundry at my aunt's house. It's an okay movie and reminds me that I don't particularly care for a certain actress. My point: the scene in the store where Drew Barrymore--whom I like--explaining how exhausting it is to be a human being rang through again. If you haven't seen it, here's the clip.

My boss recently explained to me how it is my responsibility as an employee to have a phone so that work can contact me whenever they need to. I find this has tipped my irked meter. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that it is important that I have a means of contacting the police in an emergency, but...

I used to check my email and there would be messages from people who wanted to talk to me; now it's mostly spam/blanket emails. No one's really ever called me on the phone to talk and this doesn't bother me because I detest talking on the phone. I get texts informing me of upcoming appointments with the doctor, staff meetings, pest control, et cetera but nothing really from people whom I want to maintain relationships with. Facebook is mainly my preferred time waster and attempt at being social in real life. My cell phone is really an ereader and solitaire playing device in disguise; I spent 224 minutes out of 1200 available talking on the phone in the month of February and didn't Skype with anyone as I was working overtime. (yes, I have a minutes plan.)

Honestly though, after going 10 months last year without a cell phone and 3 months shunning Facebook, I'm beginning to wonder why I have a personal and work email address, a mailing address, a cell phone, Skype, G+, and FB when maybe 2% of what goes on there has anything to do with something that sounds like a personal interaction. I do appreciate that I can find *single adult activities to attend via FB--which is the only reason I reactivated my account--but I'm not sure that I wouldn't be happier completely cut off from the rest. I think the only people who would be upset that I didn't have a phone are my boss and my mother.

Not to sound like an old fart, but I miss having the phone attached to the wall in the kitchen and voicemail that I could check wherever. I love Google Voice because I CAN do that but everything else is starting to feel like a waste of time and energy. Thoreau might have had the right idea; live on the shores of a pond and shun the outside world. All I really need is a good book or movie and chocolate cake to make me content in life as I discovered this past week being off work and having the internet go down.

Too bad money is necessary for survival.


*I was actually social for Valentine's Day. More to come about this later.