“Technology, is your friend!”
That was the phrase I would had almost ceremoniously drilled into my head from a rather young age. As someone who was born in the early 90s, I was alive to witness the world take the jump into the digital age, following the turn of the millennium. I grew up watching the old technology of the 20th Century. everything from analog television, to copper phone lines get phased out and replaced. all the while hearing that the new versions were better, more efficient. And safer.
And for a while, I actually believed it. I wasn’t what you would call a stickler for old tech. I moved with the times, adopting new technology as it came along. everything from broadband internet, to smartphones, to smart TVs and cars with self driving capabilities. I was excited about it all as well; hearing about a new leap in progress always excited me greatly, as it meant a step closer to the future I had seen in cartoons as a kid such as The Jetsons.
That all changed last year.
It started small enough. I would be standing or sitting somewhere, scrolling through social media on my phone, when it would glitch up and freeze on me. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and I had good antivirus software installed on it, so the fact that a less than two year old phone was going on the fritz annoyed me to no end.
“Friggin’ piece of crap!”
I hissed through gritted teeth as I sat at my desk during a particularly slow shift at work as my phone once again froze. then went black as it shut itself off and rebooted. Vivien, my coworker who sat in the cubicle across from me looked over with mild interest.
“Everything all right Jared?”
she asked. I shook my head.
“This stupid thing did it again to me!”
I exclaimed, quietly, so my boss wouldn’t hear I wasn’t working; even on slow shifts, he insisted we keep going to, as he put it,
“Prevent paying you to just sit on your lazy asses like you’re back in school”
She shrugged.
“Have you taken it to a repair shop to try and have the problem diagnosed?”
I sighed and rolled my eyes slightly.
“You know I have, Viv! Three times, and each one said, that my phone was running perfectly”
I said. I saw her scrunch up her face and raise a hand to play with her blonde hair. 
“Well, why not just toss it and get a new one?”
she asked. I scoffed.
“Vivien, I’ve worked here for four years. You ought to know by now I’m not into that whole disposable, throw something away as soon as it breaks or goes wonky culture”
She shrugged again.
“Suit yourself”
she said,
“But it would be a hell of a lot easier for you to just get a new one”
I shook my head and turned back to my computer, placing the now rebooted phone screen down on the desk. I may have been someone who moved with the times in terms of tech, but I didn’t like wasting money just to get rid of something after less than two or three years. I already got annoyed when people just bought or leased a car for a year, which ran perfectly fine, before hocking it and getting a single model year newer iteration, twelve months later.
When I got home that night, I hooked my phone up to my laptop, running my own diagnostic software on it. Just like with the repair men, it reported that the phone was in tip top shape, with no viruses or malware detected. Maybe Vivien is right, I thought as I climbed into bed. Maybe, just this once, I should take the L and get a new phone. As I stared at my ceiling fan, lazily spinning the abnormally warm spring air around my room, I heard my phone let out a soft ding, indicating that I’d received a text message. Rolling over, I picked it up off the table next to the bed and clicked the screen on.
"Who the hell is texting me this late?"