Last Friday at Wildfire Towers we fully embraced the MacMillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning with an overflowing of cake, coffee and fund raising – over £120 donated for this very good cause.
Another week, another charity event. However, I am not so sure that I can buy into this one quite so easily. Save the Children are asking us to turn back the clock and have a Phone Free Friday. GULP.
It is not unusual to hear of families banning phones over the supper table or having designated phone-free times when away on holiday, (ever tried that with a teenage girl?). But a whole 24 hours without a trusty iPhone, or two, to hand?
My immediate reaction on learning about this charity initiative was to mentally run through my diary for the day to work out where I would be, and when, and would I need to be in contact with family, etc., etc….
Yet, less than 20 years ago I had no phone to let people know where I was, what I was doing/eating/seeing/drinking and when I would be home. When we went shopping en famille it would be done in 45-minute chunks, with everyone reconvening at a certain point at a designated time, then off again for the next session. We survived.
Yesterday Google launched the Pixel as its rival to the iPhone, with even more features to attract the user, (such as the ever helpful and on-hand Assistant), trapping us ever more into the web of smartphone dependence. If you leave home without it you might have to talk to the person next to you rather than holding a conversation with your phone.
So, are you brave enough to ditch your phone this Friday? You know something? I’m not sure I am