Out of Reach

This morning a guy called my favourite radio station to complain about his mobile phone provider. He was outraged: The internet on his phone went down at 11pm the night before and was still not back! He had not been able to check his mail "ever since"!
It was 7am in the morning.

Maybe I had slept badly, was grumpy because it was a Monday morning or maybe I was still floating on my "I hate all modern media wave", but I couldn't help but think:

"Really? I mean... Really?"

You are calling the radio station to complain that you've not had internet - after it's been down for less than ten hours?

How important can it possibly be to check mails between 11pm and 7am - a time when most people are asleep anyway? Had he actually ever received a mail during these hours or was the thought that he was now definitely not able to enough to cause him sleepless nights?

And while I was still baffled about his angry reaction, I started wondering how much time I waste on my phone late at night when I should be reading a book or enjoying a glass of wine talking to a friend.

Do I actually want to live in a world where I am permanently available?

Is it not enough that people can get hold of me all day long? Do I actually need to be available at night as well?

And the answer - of course - was "Hell, no!"

And so I decided to make myself unavailable. From now on I will turn my phone off around 10pm and treat myself to some technology free time. Out of reach for the world - in touch with myself!