I’m not against technological advancements. Not at all. But I’m also not someone who needs to ride the waves of every technological advancement there is. Hence,  I was used to the fact that everyone loved to make fun of my cell phone, because it was so old and in such poor condition. But I didn’t mind. Seeing how I was used to do anything but calling others and sending messages with my phone, I never saw the need to get a new one, let alone a smart phone.

Last year, however, I decided to take a big step and go smart phone. And quickly I began to wonder how I had ever managed with my simple shabby old cell phone. Even just a couple of days ago, I talked to a family member about how thankful I am for the phone I have now since I use it for all sorts of things, not just phoning and messaging.

But then something happened the other day. Something dreadful. Something that gave me quite the scare!

It was the day when I was getting ready for class. The day when I needed to leave home early in the morning. The day when I was pulling on my warmer pants (so as to not freeze in my classroom). The day when before pulling on my pants I still thought, “Should I take the phone out of the pocket of my pants, just in case? Naaah! I’ll remember to be careful.” But that was the day when within seconds I forgot the cell phone in the pocket. The day when I – yes – dropped the phone.

You see, one of the big reasons for why I never wanted to invest into something like a smart phone was my fear of dropping it. Or losing it. Of course, I never really dropped any of my old cell phones or lost them, so that’s not really a tendency I have, which is why I finally decided to invest into a nicer phone.

But that morning, the morning when I needed to go to class early, the morning when I pulled on my pants with the phone in its pocket, I did just that: I dropped the phone. Of course, it only fell onto a pile of laundry, so when I hurried to pick it up, heart thumping and all, I didn’t really expect it to be broken or anything. But when I pressed the button to make sure it was still working, I quickly realized: it didn’t! It was dead. Dead as in: the screen stays black, no buttons work, no response at all. Dead!

Of course, being on my way out, I didn’t have time to check things, so I left for class feeling awful all morning. Did I really manage to wreck my “new” phone within months, after I had never done anything bad with my old phones? After the only thing it had done was: falling out of a pocket and onto a laundry pile? (Just the other day one of my friends had dropped her phone – same as mine – and nothing was wrong with it at all, and her phone didn’t even fall onto a laundry pile, but just on the plain hard floor.)

When I got home after lunch, the first thing I did was trying again to turn on the phone. Still: Nothing!

With a horrible feeling, I went to check online, searching for options to turn on your phone etc. And there it was. A very simple solution. Press Hold and Home buttons at the same time. I had never thought of that. And I had to use a little patience. I had to keep those two buttons pressed for quite a while. But there it was: a little flicker, and then the welcome logo of a half eaten apple appeared, and my poor little heart went soaring.

After all, it was just a big scare. Nothing more. Phone works fine, heart is happy, and we’re living happily ever after!