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Do you feel weird/anxious if you go outside and don't have a phone with you?

Like, you just look weird if you sitting by yourself (example: waiting at a bus stop) and just stairing into space, so like its basically social expectation to be on your phone when you are by yourself.

Plus, just feels like if you don't have a phone on you, you are missing a lot of information (access to the internet, maps, etc.) that you might need in case you get lost or something.

56 comments
  • My pockets feel unusual. Same when going out without a wallet. Constantly feel like I left them somewhere.

  • No. I'm an 80s kid. It's kind of nice once in a while to forget it.

    I imagine people with their phone in their faces while shopping, walking their dogs, etc. must have max anxiety over even the fleeting thought of not having their precious.

  • Do you feel weird/anxious if you go outside and don't have a phone with you?

    Nope. I sometimes forget my phone at home, no big deal I seldom use it. And even when I don't forget it I have zero social apps or games installed on it, not even email ;)

    I only use it to pass phone calls and to manage IDs and finances (and it's only because my banks all require me to use their stupid apps, I would gladly tell them to go funk themselves but I need to be able to access my accounts).

    What I never forget and I never hesitate to use whan I have the opportunity is a pocket book, so I always have something to read (without distraction, aka no Internet) and a pocket notebook/pen so I can write stuff (without any distraction, bugs, updates or whatever...) and in both case without any worry about being tracked.

    so like its basically social expectation to be on your phone when you are by yourself.

    Is it? And then people are surprised they're exhausted, and constantly anxious and/or angry at one another? Doom scrolling is poison for the mind and for the soul. I'd rather look around, or speak with people.

    you are missing a lot of information

    Do I? Well, so far it has not caused me much issues.

    that you might need in case you get lost or something.

    When that happens, I ask my way around to people. It sometime is a nice opportunity to start a real conversation ;)

    edit: typos and clarification.

  • Broke my phone like two months ago and sent it in to get it repaired, which took about a month. I only had my work phone as emergency backup, so I basically didn't have a phone during most of that time.

    Well, staring into space while waiting for the bus seems to be the convention where I live, so I didn't feel weird in that regard.
    I did have some invasive thoughts, like what if you need to call emergency services and can't? Haven't needed that so far in my life and the chance of no one else with a phone being around is pretty slim, but the thought entered my mind anyways.

    Well, and then I do use my phone for navigating public transport, for finding out where I need to go in case I ever get lost and then also just as a shopping list.
    Shopping list is easy to replace with a sheet of paper. Navigating public transport had me suddenly looking at the hangouts in the various stations. It's certainly not the same as having an algorithm tell you the quickest route, but you can find a lot of information there and you will find a route, which is good enough.
    Not having a map is something that had me kind of just not take larger trips. I guess, if I had been without a phone for longer, I would've gotten used to that, too. Like, you can ask people, some of which might have a phone with a map on it themselves even.

    Generally speaking, after the first few days, I did not miss my phone as much as I thought. I found it somewhat liberating even.

  • I only get as awkward as the distance travelled

    I'd be fine going to the mall, bit iffed since I don't have music to accompany me

    I'd be damned if I visit hierapolis without my phone on me, fuck knows how I'll get back if I also lose my wallet

  • I feel weird if I go to the kitchen and don't have a phone with me. Then again, I'm weird, so having a phone with me may not be the issue.

  • Yeah but only because I have literally no personality and will stare blankly in space (and 9 times out of 10, in the direction of some random person) and I'm only worried about not blending in enough without starting stupid fights. I wasn't listening to your stupid conversation, I was completely zoned out but okay. It was probably a really stupid conversation about stupid marijuana products and brand names and "attractive" men who look like personified dead rats or something stupid I wasn't even interested in.

  • I've recently had to force myself to pay more attention to my phone. I keep putting it down and forgetting it for many hours at a time. I have to get better or one of these days I'm going to have left it outside my home or car, it's only a matter of time.

  • Only at night, when it's dark out. I don't live in the worst neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination right now, but I always feel a little anxious/paranoid that something might happen while I'm taking out my brother's big pit mixes. And that's with nothing ever actually happening.

  • Nah.

    I carry a stungun and that's enough for me. My NY resolution is actually to not carry my phone everywhere.

  • Ooposite, i feel weird and unreal when I have a phone, like I'm not human, just bound to this box and that's all I am, no me. also I'm embarrassed using my phone in public, because it is embarrassing and when I see people doing it my respect sinks by 70%.

56 comments