International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc.
"Journalists In Action Around The World!"
FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in
My Deep Dark Secret! - Dec 7, 2004

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc. Forum Index -> News Stories From IAIJ Members
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Maurice
Site Admin


Joined: 08 Jul 2006
Posts: 185

PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 6:13 am    Post subject: My Deep Dark Secret! - Dec 7, 2004 Reply with quote

My Deep Dark Secret!


By Maurice Ali, Journalist



My phone in full glory with leather cover and huge battery with spare batteries (the
two new slin-line batteries are in the charger). Also seen are car adapter and
permanant car adapter and wall socket adapter!



There is a skeleton in my closet that I have pushed into the back of my mind for years. There is a part of me hidden from the rest of the world. A part of my life that would affect the way most of you would view me. That dark part of my life is my cell phone.

I probably have one of the oldest cell phones still in use. It is an old first generation Motorola personal communicator (I wonder if they still call them that.....). I got lucky in that it was one of the first of the digital phones; so I just kept using it. Using it? Well that is how all this came to be. When I was married (back when dinosaurs ruled the earth), I gave my wife a cell phone; it was 1990 and she got one.....not one in the car, or the large ones in a "purse", it was a genuine mobile phone that looked like a large black walkie-talkie (wonder if the things are still around.....). She could actually carry it in her purse (just barely) if she needed to use the phone, big stuff back then.

Technology was moving quickly back then and the new flip phones became the rage, I needed one to call my wife while I was one the road everyday (her idea) and jumped at the thought of getting a flip. It was a rental (the real reason the thing has lasted so long) but I quickly bought the phone so I could pick the plan I wanted. It was cool, with the thin battery, you could carry it in your back pocket of your Levis (I have a nice little ass so it actually looked good). For a while, if you wanted to look cool, the flip was it! So, it got used that first year or two until me and the wife got bored with each other and split up. That is when the fateful moment came and the phone was relegated to glove box status. I became a bit "anti-women" for a while and so did not need a cell phone and so it became a habit. That phone just stayed in the glove box, forgotten except for the few times I really need it (breakdowns and the occasional call from the mortgage people when renewing the mortgage and such). I really am not the phoning kind of guy but it was always a problem for others that I could never be reached by cell. I used the phone so little that after a two year stint without a call; I phoned my home just to see it it would work (it did).

So eleven years go by and now I start to need a phone as the FOF and IAIJ projects start up. I pulled the old phone out of the glove box only to find that the batteries no longer worked (I had plug ins for the car). Nobody seemed to sell new batteries any more. By chance I found a lithium battery at Radio Shack and I was back in business. As much as I would try to keep others from seeing the old phone in action, slipups occurred. The result was usually a laugh from the old folks to amazement from the teenagers: "Does that still work; can I phone my phone from that!" That was the reply from one girl after seeing the phone. I was so old fashioned and behind the times that I was not even boring or dumpy to people.....but it was actually a funky thing to have around. It was also in almost new condition which helped in the effect.

So where do I go from here? Well I found two more batteries today, and I got them very cheap as they were nicad and old but they seem to charge up so more life for the old dog yet. I am a realist and know that most women that would approach a guy they found interesting; would probably think twice if they found a guy with this phone, so the writing is one the wall for this bit of history. I still prefer this phone when I need ruggedness, like when we cover some of the more "questionable" news stories. I can drop that phone and nothing happens because the plastics are high quality and dent and "recover" rather than crack and break. The hinges on the phone are enormous compared to the popular Samsungs of today.

Anyway, I passed by a wireless store at the end of work and found a guy with a tiny phone that fit inside his ear; I did not react to this (and he seemed upset I was not drooling the sight) as it just seemed the way things always go..... Once upon a time, seeing a man babbling to himself alone was a sign of mental illness; today it is a status symbol of the latest in high technology. I can't wait to join the herd.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc. Forum Index -> News Stories From IAIJ Members All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group

AndGrey 1.02 Theme was programmed by DEVPPL JavaScript Forum
Images were made by DEVPPL Flash Games