Cindy looked hurriedly at her Apple watch. She was already over thirty minutes late!
A college student, she was hitting the road on this beautiful autumn morning. She was taking a major road trip to Alabama. By leaving at the crack of dawn, she could make it to her friends’ house by early afternoon to start the weekend off partying.
She went flying down the stairs, hat and raincoat in hand. “OK, OK!. I’m ready!” she thought.
Stopping at the landing and in front of the door, she hoisted her backpack up off the floor and on to her left shoulder. She opened the door, and stepping outside, locked it. Then she walked quickly to her car on the street, jumped in, and took off. On the road. Finally.
Knowing her way out of the neighborhood and on to the highway by heart, she cranked her favorite station on Sirius XM and stepped on it.
She then did a mental check on what needed top be done that day while was gone.
“Call Jan and give her my ETA. Check!“
“Email Dr. Smith the rough draft of her paper. Check!“
“Get Jan’s address. Check.“
“Ah!” she thought. “On the road again on a pretty Fall day and no worries. It’s amazing what getting out of Dodge can do for the spirit!“
She raised up her left wrist to check the time. No Apple watch.
“What! Where is it? I need that!!!” she said out loud.
Luckily, there was an exit up ahead where she could pull over and stop the car at the crest of the hill, get out, look all around, and find the watch. And that’s just what she did. Five minutes later …. no watch.
“It must have come off of my wrist when I put on my backpack,” she thought. “Oh well.“
What to do?
“I’ll just call Allie and see if she will go by the house and find it. Just so I know.“
So she reached over on to the passenger seat for her purse. Of course, the usual junk was in there, but she kind of knew where to feel around for her cellphone. A moment later, she was leaning over, anxiously, to visibly check her purse.
“NO!”
It was not there.
Getting out of the car, she proceeded to basically “turn the car upside down” looking for her phone. First she went for the luggage and backpack to look. Nothing. Then she checked her coat and looked on the floor in the front and back. Nothing. She looked in the door pockets, under the floor mats, and under the seats and the crannies next to them where cellphones could disappear. Nothing.
She was in detective mode, now.
“I know,” she said. “My laptop! In my backpack!”
She checked her backpack. No laptop.
Jumping back in the car, she gunned the accelerator and took a hard right at the stop sign. She headed straight for the convenience store.
“I’ve heard of these things called phone booths,” she thought desperately. “And I have change!”
But there were no phone booths. And the store was not open yet.
Jan was in quite a pickle.
She couldn’t call Allie about the whereabouts of her iWatch.
She couldn’t call Jan about her ETA. “Hell,” she thought.” I can’t even enter her address in my GPS!“
The rough draft of her paper due to Dr. Smith was in the email on her iWatch. “Can’t do that either,” she thought, sadly.
“Wow! That’s how quickly a fun morning and can turn to hell!“
Looking up, she noticed the passengers in cars driving by in another completely different way. In just a few cars that passed by in five minutes, just about every passenger was looking at his or her cellphone. They seemed so happy. So at ease. So ….. content.
Her spirit sank. It sank low and it sank fast.
“What am I gonna do?!”
Walking dejectedly back to her car, she got in, started it, and drove up to where she had exited. She drove past it. Then she took a left and headed north back home and back to her house.
She may have lost her road trip weekend, but at least she could get back to the security of her creature comforts.
“It will be OK!“
