My cell phone is my best friend. It’s my lifeline to the outside world.
— Carrie Underwood, American singer, songwriter
My friends, can you live without your handphone even for just a day?
Recently, I accidentally left my handphone in the office after a hard day’s work. And I tell you, the next 11 hours or so seemed to be the longest in my life.
By the time I realised that I had left the gadget in the office, I was already in my house — about 40 minutes’ drive away. Since it was almost midnight, I did not fancy driving back to the office at MetroCity alone on the long and dark roads.
That night, I could not sleep well. You see, it is a daily routine for me to talk to my youngest sister and my niece and update each other on the day’s happenings.
My sister called me that night a hundred times and wondered why I did not pick up my phone. She told me so the next day.
Just before I dozed off to sleep that day, I prayed that my colleagues would keep my phone safe for me. One of my nephews had given me the phone as my birthday present this year. “What will I tell him if it is indeed missing?” I kept asking myself.
On most nights, I will enjoy videos and music on YouTube before I fall asleep. That night, there was nothing else I could do except to pray that I would be reunited with my handphone.
The next day, when I turned up at the office just before noon, it was there on my table waiting for me, just like a long lost friend.
One of my colleagues, who was on day shift and had come early, was keeping an eye on it for me.
Later, I learnt that my colleagues, who were on duty the night before, did not know how to contact me and tell me that I had left my phone behind. Like many of my friends, I only have one phone and do not see the need to spend money unnecessarily on another.
Do you know how inconvenient it is to be without a handphone? I did not know what time I went to sleep the day I left my phone in the office. I also did not know what time I woke up the next morning. You see, my phone is also usually my watch.
When I went to the food court in my housing estate for lunch, I could not scan the premises’ MySejahtera QR Code. Knowing how many people had been compounded by the relevant authorities for not doing so, I truly did not enjoy my lunch that day.
“Never mind, if I am caught, I will tell them I left my handphone in the office,” I consoled myself repeatedly.
I am normally a law-abiding person. But although I knew I was breaking the law on the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), I had to eat. I needed food to work.
I also like to take pictures of the food I eat and share it with my youngest sister, niece, family members and friends.
Remember the saying, “A picture speaks a thousand words?” Since a picture can tell a story just as well as many words, I usually send them pictures when they ask what I am having for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Doing so spares me the task of having to explain again and again what I am eating.
Without my handphone, I only visited the food court that morning, I did not dare to visit any other premises. And that was why I turned up at the office three hours early for work that day.
Looking back, I am blessed to have good and caring colleagues in the office. They kept an eye on my handphone for me and kept it safe for me.
I’ve learnt a few valuable lessons from the incident. Firstly, every night before I leave the office, I must check whether my handphone is safely in my handbag.
Secondly, I must take good care of it. Even though it is just a simple phone and does not cost a bomb, it is my watch and connects me to my family members, friends and colleagues.
Thirdly, I cannot survive without a handphone. I find it is terribly lonely to be cut off from particularly my family and friends and from other events happening around the world. What about you, my friends?
