The mobile phone has really changed the way we communicate. Imagine if we still used messengers. Or smoke signals. Or drums. How would life be? How would we know how well people were masking their problems [read social media vanity]? I really pity my grandfather for missing out on this marvel.
But then with this technological marvel, it has come with its own challenges. For example, the instantaneous nature of this technology has ruined many marriages and relationships than money and death combined.
The letter was fine. You just wrote what your heartfelt, summed up in words piled in your heart and sent it to your lover. It would take two or more weeks to get there. Or not get there at all. It was completely okay.
Nowadays people have developed really bad habits when using the phone. It kind of makes me wish to go back to the days. These habits are:
Lying
Ever heard that person unapologetically say that they are in Malindi in a matatu heading to Kawangware? It makes you lose faith in humanity when you imagine if that person being lied to you was you. You wonder what benefits these people get for lying. Do they like to go to the supermarket and redeem their lies like bonga points?
Then there are those who say five minutes and they are there. It should be declared a criminal offence to lie that way. You could be hearing the echo of flip flops and still, someone has the audacity to lie. Someone will make you wait at Tom Mboya’s statue for three hours when they said they’d take five minutes. Why is it so hard for someone to say: 'I haven't left the house yet.'
Hanging up a phone you didn’t make
You call someone. She [it’s always a she] talks for a few minutes then she hangs up like it is the most normal thing in the world. You are the one who made the call, and you should have the luxury of hanging up. If anything it shows disrespect. If you feel someone wants to rundown their airtime, let them be.
Peeping when someone is texting
I am guilty of this. I don’t know why but I like it. There’s nothing better than reading someone’s mind in real time, as they text and you giving yourself points for auto-completing their messages. This should be declared a hobby that someone can put in their CV. But it is not a nice thing, since you make people afraid of taking out their phones in public.