I wrote this piece in April of 2014 when I was among shy owners of ancient cellphone relics with small, no-touch screens and scandalous ring tones. They were still useful for sending text messages and hitting snatchers on the head (toinking them over) but which was mortal sin to possess if you were in sales and marketing. I didn't have a smart android phone until 2017.
Imagine.
Anyway, at that time, these smartphones were everywhere and they drove me crazy. If you'd been on footbridges along EDSA at night at the time, you'd never miss them. Especially the footbridge on West Avenue corner EDSA? You'd see gadget vendors loitering at the corners or hiding in the shadows along the narrow passage, attracting crowds as they showed off iPhones and other "top-of-the-line electronic gadgets, urging people to buy--and I didn't know
where on earth they got them from. They literally caused human traffic on the footbridges.
I heard some sources say they were snatched or stolen. 😐 Not sure.
Anyway, they clogged footbridges, creating bottle-necks--so that just passing through, I found myself among the gadget-desperate customers, young and old,
jam-packing the footbridge which I felt swayed under our weights, especially
as big buses and trucks passed underneath. Like a 7 magnitude tremor. What if it collapsed and became the headline of
tomorrow's papers? "EDSA Footbridge Wrecked by Rabid iPhone Buyers!" And my name was on it as one of them.
And what if my friends saw my name there? A rabid iPhone footbridge
shopper?
Why did they sell iPhones there? Where
did they get the units? And why did these decent-looking people buy from these
footbridge sellers? Were the smartphones cheaper here than in malls? I'm
sometimes tempted to ask the vendors but if I did, they may never stop following and pestering
me with their merchandise. That would be bad news because I passed by that footbridge each night from work.
iGadget Users in Jeepneys and Buses
Users were everywhere. They brandished their phablets, smartphones, iPhones, iPads, iPods, tablets, laptops, etc., so
that you shied away with pulling out your 3210 or 1680. You ignored all the text messages
you heard coming and pretended the mobile wasn't in your bag or pocket. They tinkered with
their touchscreens in broad daylight while you hid your antiquated analogue mobile
under the cover of darkness or kept it strictly in your hand, bag or hanky.
And the ring or SMS alert tone of cheap
phones are so distinctive from high-end ones, so once your mobile makes noise,
everyone in the jeepney or bus knows it's coming from a cheap gadget, and they also know it's from a middle-age guy, so they
look at me suspiciously, like I committed a crime. And I'm like, "What?"
What My Old Phone Taught Me
But so what? If there was anything my experience with my old phone taught me, it was to mind your own phone---no matter how it looks like or what model it is. In one funeral visit, I was talking with a rich socialite friend who was bragging about his big-time vacations, fancy gadget and accessories, plus his plethora of financial blessings. I think SM and Walter Mart leased their massive properties in Laguna. Wow. Owning properties is really good investment.
You live in Manila and you need cash for business or investment?
Turn your collateral into cash thru re-financing.
Safe. Low interest. Easy re-payment mode. Easy requirements.
Then my cellphone rang. Not only was it an old model and looked war-torn. It was wrapped with Scotch tape to keep the badly cracked shell from finally coming apart. I took it out of my pocket and answered the call. My friend was shocked, to say the least. But then I thought, so what? Cellphone models or brands never define who you are. It's just that, you haven't had the opportunity to buy a new one. That's all. 😄
Lastly, this is how old cellphones make you smart. You learn that it's not what you have or own that makes you (and it's not what you don't have or don't own that breaks you). What improves you and genuine self confidence is how you learned and changed and developed stronger character by being resourceful and creative with what little you are given. If you're trustworthy with little, wait for the big break God's going to send your way soon. Smart? And according to how I read the bible, it's going to be in the Millennium.
So love your old phone. 😆😇
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