Last month I got a series of frantic calls from Verizon. “You’re about to go over on your minutes! We need to act NOW so you won’t go over…We can easily just upgrade your plan to take care of that…”
Or, I thought, I could just talk less.
Honestly, with all the other urgent issues in the world – global warming, domestic violence, a failing economy, a WAR – was the fact that I was approaching my limit of cell phone minutes for the month THAT much of a crisis?
Apparently so.
More. Better. Faster. Newer. Unlimited. Super-size. Value-pack. High-Speed. Anytime. Mega. Supercalifragilisticexpilodocious.
The bottomline for me is I want to stop. I need to stop. And if having fewer minutes forces me to reign my busy little self in, then so be it. I want to put down my phone and play Rukus with my kids instead.I want to be “out of range” and not have access to wi-fi sometimes. I want to hear a “ding” and know that it’s not my phone that’s calling to me. I don’t want to be available as much as my technology would deem appropriate.
I want to deem what’s appropriate.
I don’t want to buy things in bulk. I don’t want to have extra stuff kicking around in case I need it. I’d rather have my space back. I don’t want to be told I’m a fool to pass up an offer to get two for one or all you can eat. I don’t want to super-size my life, thank you very much.
I just want to have what I need. Enough.
But it’s so damn hard when I am constantly made to feel like I’m a throwback to the Richie Cunningham days. Yes my phone is still 3G. Yes we are stubbornly clinging to the basic cable package with only 12 channels. No, we don’t have call waiting. No, we don’t have unlimited minutes on our phones. Yes, we finally let our BJ’s membership lapse when we no longer had the excuse of buying diapers.
Do I think this makes me a better person than other people who have all these things or make different decisions? Absolutely not. Make no mistake about it, I’m not self-righteous. I’m desperate.
I’m drawing my line in the sand. I’m keeping my minutes just where they are, Verizon. Thank you for your concern for my well-being, but I’ll work with what I’ve got.
And maybe I’ll bring back poodle skirts while I’m at it.
