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Losing My Phone Brought Me Peace
An unexpected surprise.
Phone, wallet, keys.
It’s the three essential items I double check I have every time I leave the house.
We all do. Adam Sandler even wrote a song about it.
It’s all one really needs to survive the day.
For me however, there’s also a slew of other random items I pack with my bag before heading out, such as:
- A book to read on the bus.
- A portable phone charger because I’ll use up my battery scrolling social media instead of reading the book.
- A pen.
- Another pen because I lost the other one.
- Mints. Because it seems everyone is in need of a mint, and I never want to be the person someone says not subtly to, “Do you need a mint?”
- Small notebook. This is meant to be a journal for thoughts, but it is better used for tearing out a piece of paper to make a grocery list.
- Sunglasses. A cheap pair because I will lose it along with my pens.
- Headphones. Not wireless ear buds. Wired because I want people to notice that I’m wearing headphones so they don’t attempt to talk to me.
- Lint roller. I have carried this with me for years in hopes of one day coming to someone’s rescue who is desperately in need of removing pet hair, but I have yet to be that hero.
- A receipt from last week because I wanted to remember the bartender’s name who made my drinks extra strong.
It’s a lot to carry, but as long as I have the basic three, I don’t worry.
Because losing any of those three essentials would leave me in a state of anxiety and tremendous grief.
My keys! I’m locked out forever!
My wallet! I’ll have to cancel cards! Even worse, I’ll have to go to the DMV to get a new license!
My phone! My precious phone! How does one even get around in this world without a fucking phone? I’m stranded here at Trader Joe’s for the rest of my life!
That is how I normally thought.
