The "Brick"
(filed under Random-Thoughts)
I don’t know how many of you grew up in the “Saved By the Bell” era, but for those of you who know who I’m talking about when I say Zach Morris, you can’t help but think of his fat, or “phat,” (which ever you prefer because they both work), cell phone. The brick that took two hands to hold up to your ear, with numbers as big as your grandma’s calculator? You know the one I’m talking about. For Zach, the phone was cool. For Ashley, (me), the phone was a detriment to my high school career. Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with the same phone as Zach – I had the great granddaughter: the Motorola Timeport P7389. (The smaller “brick,” with the eerie puke- green screen.)
The other problem was that when I was in high school, every single one of my friends had the cool, shiny, hold in the palm of your hand, phones as soon as they started high school. When did Ashley get her cell phone? Not until her senior year. The first day I took the phone to school, I felt like a fat kid in a candy shop. I was finally going to be a part of the “crowd.” Then, as soon as I pulled the phone out of my back-pack (since it wouldn’t fit in my back pocket, unless I wanted a lop sided butt) the bane of my existence began. “Ashley, what is that?” “Did you take a hand scanner from the lunch lady?” Uh, it’s my cell phone. From then on, Ashley’s cell phone was known as “The Zach Morris Phone.”
As I grew older and wiser, as most teenagers do, I moved off to college and my Zach Morris phone went with me. I finally decided it was time that my cell phone retire. Now, it was just a matter of getting my parents to buy me a new one. I had the exact phone I wanted in my mind – it glowed with a halo on top. Then, when I was home one weekend, I saw a T-Mobile box on the counter. My heart fluttered for a second and my stomach turned. Could this be it? Could this be Ashley’s version of the Red Ryder BB Gun? (If you haven’t seen A Christmas Story, go rent it… right now.) I picked up the box and brushed off the receipt. This was it – the phone I had been dreaming about: the Nokia 6101 “flip” phone. (Please insert “ooohs” and “aaaahs” here.) My dad walked in the door and saw me drooling on the box and said, “You like my new phone? I’m going to take that one and I’m going to give you my old phone.” Pop. My dream bubble was burst. Might as well have popped a five year olds birthday balloon with how I felt. I tried every trick in the book to get my dad to let me have the new phone, but to no avail. Nothing worked. I moved on in life and slowly learned to deal with my “out datedness.”
I share my bad luck with phones with you so that you can revel in my pain and celebrate in my excitement when the day comes that I will buy a new phone. Honestly, I’m not sure I could pick a phone today. If I were to buy one, it would be outdated the next day. It is amazing to see how quickly phones are changing today. Take for example, RIM’s Blackberry 8800. The 8800 was released the beginning of March 2007 and forums are already starting to talk about the Blackberry 8300 and the possible features these “crackberry addicts” would like to see. WiFi, GPS, Touchscreen? Why do they have to be replaced so quickly? I think that is one of those questions that will never be answered. If you think you know, drop me a line.
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