Incoming Messages

Since the advent and subsequent saturation of cellphones and their use, we have all developed “cellphone habits.”  We habitually carry them in a certain pocket or accessory we carry.   When sitting at a table, many of us place the phone someplace alongside us.  Some of us constantly lose track of them.

Cellphone charging habits are a subject of their own.  While some people nearly drain all battery life from their phones before charging, I charge mine as often as possible.  Additionally, I shutdown my phone and put it to rest before crawling into bed.  Desiree mutes her ringer and notifications and places her energized phone on a dresser near our bed.

We are upside-down in time from Desiree’s friends and family.  Our night is their day.  This is most notable to me if I happen to wake at night and Desiree’s smartphone is receiving an incoming message or call.

Very early this morning, just after I woke, Desiree’s phone began to vibrate and pulse with light as a message streamed in from the other side of the world.  The small light and small sound did not wake Desiree, but filled my just-awake senses.  All day and all night, messages stream in.  Strange, how this has become a normal thing. 

—Mitchell Hegman