That Pocket Comfort

We lived those 1970's social media memes. The ones that touted how we played outside at night unsupervised. How we rode bikes without helmets. How we rode in the back of pick-up trucks at high speeds. How we had dirt clod fights in vacant lots. How we took Polaroid selfies. And how we didn't need any stinkin' smartphones. Gen X forever!

Nope, we used pay phones and we liked it. When we had loose change to make a call that is. Otherwise, we'd have to call collect, meaning the recipient of the phone call had to pay for the call charges. If they accepted. Of course our parents accepted when we were stranded and needed help as a young adult. Which never happened to me. Maybe.

Cell phones wouldn't be available for at least another 15 years, and even then most people couldn't afford them. My wife Amy and I have a running joke about a movie I made her watch years ago called Miracle Mile. It was an apocalyptic thriller that came out in 1988 starring starring Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham. I loved the movie. Amy did not. There was another actress in the movie, Denise Crosby, who also played Security Chief Tasha Yar in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which Amy loved. In Miracle Mile, Denise played a mysterious businesswoman who had a huge cell phone she used it to call government officials from a diner. You'll have to watch the movie to see the rest. 

I didn't have a cell phone until the mid-90's, and it was a plastic "Star Trekkie" Motorola flip-phone. Fast forward to today, and there are nearly 3 billion smartphones in the hands of people everywhere around the world. 

And that now includes our daughters' hands. 

We've never been resistant to the idea that they would have phones at some point. We are a device-friendly family, and both girls have been using old iPhones as iPods for a few years now, as well as iPads. We monitor their device time and what they're doing on their devices, and have empowered them to tell us if they see something inappropriate or experience an inappropriate exchange with a stranger while playing Roblox.

After a year of distance learning, our oldest Beatrice finally gets to experience middle school in person soon, even if it's only two days per week. Bryce goes back to in-person 4th grade soon, too. Because of this and the fact that they're on their own more often inside and outside of the home, it was time to activate phones for them so they can text and call us, and we can do the same with them. Plus, we have phone rules about texting others and our family safety plans in place and review them every week. 

Decades ago when Amy and I were kids and teens, we never imagined a world where we could be in contact with our friends and family anytime and from practically anywhere. Today, we couldn't imagine not having the ability to text and call our children anytime and from practically anywhere. No apocalyptic thrillers here; we'll take that pocket comfort the phones bring us every day of the week.