Lost and Found

Last night, I realized that I lost my cellphone. FOR REAL.

I've been known to leave my phone in weird places: on top of the refrigerator, on a cluttered bookshelf, on top of wherever whenever I'm on a rush (which is most of the time).

There was a time when my phone slipped from my hands on top of a flight of stairs and it travelled down the steps before I could save it from the fall. The side got chipped off but my phone still worked perfectly.

That was just one of the many times my cellphone accidentally fell from a height. For some reason, my phone was able to take all my "cruelty" and "irresponsibility" towards it. And I'm amazed at how it always used to find its way back to me.

There was a time when I left it inside the Probe headquarters. I didn't even know that I left it there because I was in a rush to get to class. When I got home, I thought I left my phone in school but then Ms. Giewee called me at home and said that she got my phone with her. And so, I went to the headquarters the next day to claim my phone from the security guard (thanks, Ms. G and manong!).

And of course there were other times when I just left my cellphone at home. Atleast there it was safe and sound. Sometimes it would find its way on the car floor until someone calls or texts and sets off the car alarm. And I'd be sure that I left it there.

So yes, my phone is probably the most battered-looking old phone around. But no matter how many times I've almost lost it, somebody always seems to give it back...until last night.

Nobody called me anymore. My number couldn't be reached either. I've been to different places that I didn't know where I accidentally left my phone. And so I was convinced by my kuya to have the line disconnected for the first time last night.

People couldn't contact me and I couldn't contact anybody else either except my family and Franco. I felt disappointed but there was noone to blame but myself. I was planning to change phones soon but I imagined transferring my old phonebook to the next one. Last night, I knew I would have to do it the harder way.

I emailed everyone in my yahoogroups plus other individuals not found in those e-groups and asked them to email me their contact numbers so I could complete my phonebook again once the line gets reconnected. But the thing is, I don't know everyone's email addresses except those who have emailed me or who I have emailed for the past months. If I was lucky, I'd probably get half of my contacts. But I didn't think about it that much...

Instead, I amused myself with the interesting email responses that varied from sympathy to "twas one of the few times I texted but you weren't able to receive it" (and twas roaming! whack!) to OMG trivias... (Louis, I never knew your number was obscene! haha.) and back to sympathy (which was majority of the responses).

I didn't think sympathy could be so cute... "Wawa lala" (like a baby). But I didn't feel "wawa" at all. I felt like a mature adult who's simply irresponsible when it comes to her cellphone and is willing to face all the consequences of her actions.

And so, I spent the whole day today without a phone. I just relied on the usual "see you at this particular meeting place at this particular time, etc" kind of arrangements rather than "text kita later where tayo meet". I practiced being on time and my sister also had to (coz she left her phone at home :p) and we had to meet up twice!

I didn't pine away (except for a while last night) about my phone. I just went back to a no-cellphone-mode which I realized I haven't done for quite a while. Since the texting generation boomed in the Philippines, almost everyone has atleast one cellphone.

And now, after a long day without a working cellphone with me (I had a spare phone with no load and a phone number that I didn't even know so it was useless!), I realized the following:

(1) Not having one wasn't so bad... It was like going back to gradeschool and early high school minus the beeper, hehe.
(2) I wasn't as attached as I thought I was to the stuff I stored in my cp or atleast I tried not to think about all the photos, messages, and contacts that I saved in my phone.
(3) I felt "detached" from the rest of the world except where I was at particular moments. Thus, I was focused on the "here and now" which for today was mostly with my sister, Ling.

And after all these realizations and going back to no-cp-mode... I was re-affirmed about my old belief that...

Nice and honest people are all around us!

Yeah, baby!

FLaShBack:
*my mom's cellphone rings*

"hello?"
"Hi! Good afternoon! Is this the mother of the person who lost his/her phone?" (which means the one who got it didn't tinker with my phone at all but probably searched for my 'mom' in the phonebook)

They chatted for a while.

Lo and behold! I'll be claiming my old phone back tomorrow. :)

I just learned about it tonight when I saw my mom and she told me the story. I guess I just had to try not having my phone for 24 hours and had another reason to blog. Oh, it was fun! :)

P.S.
To all those who emailed me, thanks for your quick response! I super appreciate them :) Sorry for the hassle...

my phone got lost and it was found!

Saturday, July 1, 2006

I got my phone back this morning! Thank you thank you thank you to the staff of the Ateneo library and Ms. Flor of the Director's office :) Oh, I just have to correct myself. They actually called my mom, Franco, and Sarah. I'm not surprised coz Franco & Sarah both have numerous messages stored in my inbox. :p I would have probably done the same thing if I found another person's phone.

Have a great weekend, everyone!