Sigh ... I finally broke down and got a cell phone today!

The accident on the 102 last night, which held up traffic for hours, taught me (the hard way), the importance of having a cell phone. I'm 35 and never owned a cell phone. Until today.

I consider myself technologically inclined and 'in tune' with the world ... to a degree ;-) But owning a cell phone (or not owning one lol) has just been one of my personal 'quirks' that I didn't want to let go of. At first I didn't jump on the cell wagon because of the cost. Plain and simple :-) It was a luxury item. But then, as I watched literally EVERYONE around me begin to flip their phones, having to answer them, set them to silent/vibrate, having to turn them off, having to change their ring-tones regularly, answering them sometimes when they shouldn't ... but more importantly, it was another way to be 'reached'.

Yes, in general that's a good thing. However, as a workin' mom, there are so many demands on the time; kids, work, travel for work, travel with kids lol, dishes, laundry blah blah blah ;-) that it was kind of nice knowing that if I was out, I was out. Sorry, but I'll call you when I get home/in.

Yeah I know, 'you could get one just for emergencies'. And how long would that last .... really ... :-) Eventually it turns into an everyday phone and without even knowing it, I've morphed into one of the Cell-ford (ex)Wives :-)

But yesterday, I realized that one of these days, that 'emergency' just may come along ...

I actually left work a few mins early yesterday afternoon. I had to make a quick stop on the way home, and I was hoping to avoid the idiots who forget how to drive in the rain. Sometimes just 10-15 min is just enough to avoid that 'after work flood' of traffic out of not only downtown, but the entire city itself. I reached the Bayer's Lake exit heading home around 4:30, in time to get both kids at two different places, for 5:30. That's where I hit the standstill in traffic. And sat there for about an hour and didn't move more than 20-30ft past the exit .... but far enough there was no way to go backwards, the cars were already behind me in both lanes (and of course I was over in the other lane by then anyway lol).

Then the traffic just crawled at maybe 5km/h. Sometimes 10. It was painful. Absolutely painful! When it was after 5, and I still hadn't reached the next exit (which would have been a min or so away, but nowhere near getting me closer to home), I started to stress. It was frustrating, not being able to go anywhere, knowing I had to pick up the kids in about 20 min, and there's no way I'd be there on time, and no way to call them and let them know, because I don't have a cell phone. And no way to call anyone else to go pick them up, because I don't have a cell phone. Damn! Did anyone catch the make of that phone that just came back to bite me in the ass after all these years???? ;-)

We literally crawled along and there was absolutely nothing I could do. All the exits were backed up anyway, because there were 'problems' with both bridges, two other highways had issues, and another major road was closed and they were at a standstill also I believe. It was a nightmare everywhere. At 6pm I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going anywhere, and wasn't close to home. I hoped that the after-school workers had reached their dad or my good friend Kim, who I have as an Emergency contact ... then I just sat back and pulled out the magazine I had bought earlier in the day and checked out if Jen Aniston had gotten herself a boob job last month :-)

When I finally got past what was left of the truck, I reached the after-school care program just after 6:30. I went there first in case they hadn't been able to reach anyone and someone was still there with him. Nope. Drove by the ex's on the way to where Alec was and there were no lights on ... maybe he had the boys and had taken them out to dinner. When I got to the sitter's, I saw Alec's jacket and sneakers right away by the door. Damn. OK, so Alec's here ... where's Adam.

Leave the sitter's and head home. Voice mail, email and msn msg from Kim. Adam's with her :-) PHEW! Kim came to the rescue. And 'the boss' even drove him over there because her husband was gone with their vehicle, so she had no way to go get him. She dropped him off at 6, but I'm sure I definitely made the sh*t list for that one :-(

After we got home and Alec was fed (Adam had eaten at Kim's) and both boys were 'settled' for the night, I called and left a message at the 'after-school place' explaining what happened. I realized there wouldn't be anybody there, but I wanted them to hear it first thing in the am. I also sent 'the girls' down there flowers and Sorry/Thanks' note today :-) No, I don't like being on the sh*t list lol.

And also today, I got the cell phone. Even though I knew I had people down as 'back-ups', there was still the worry of whether or not the girls were able to reach them, and what did they do with Adam if they didn't and would they still be there and and and ... why hadn't I gotten a cell phone years ago so I could have just called both Paul and Kim myself when I hit the traffic at 4:30 and everything would have been fine ... I could have actually enjoyed those pics (of the guys ... not Jen's new boobs ;-p) and articles in that magazine ... instead of staring tensely through the paper, into red tail light space.

So there ya go. Get yourselves a cell phone. Accidents happen. Not necessarily TO you, but they may still affect you. You may need to just 'let someone know ....'.


Nite all! I'm going to play with my ringtones now :-D

K