Sunday, May 15, 2011

Cellphones, Texting, and Not Taking a Hint

I used to love my cellphone. The two of us had very close, platonic relationship. We shared many laughs via recorded messages and poorly-taken photos. Moreover, as I was the last of my friends to obtain a cellphone (not getting one until I was nearly a sophomore in high school), and was given a very, very strict ban on texting until I had almost graduated, I learned to appreciate it for what it was. I learned the importance of a call, whenever I would receive one, and to be frugal with the amount of texts I would send, once I was allowed to do so.

It is with a heavy heart that I now admit that through the years, the two of us had begun to drift further and further apart. First, the warning signs of the split in our relationship were subtle. I would get calls from people who were trying to contact the previous owner of my number, and would continue to receive them from the same people regardless of my informing them that they were calling the wrong number. They would proceed to leave messages for this mystery woman when I wouldn't answer, even though I had recorded myself saying who the phone belonged to in the voicemail message.  I didn't count these annoyances to be more than trifling...but of course, with time things build.

Complaints as to my wrong-number posse became complaints as to it being a pain to carry around. My model had quickly become outdated, as inconvenient and embarrassing to shove into my pocket as this dinosaur:

Would you strap this around your waist?
Yeah, I didn't think so.



Soon, my cell and I weren't speaking with one another. I hardly ever received calls from anyone I knew, thus giving me what I felt justification to shoving it out of sight and leaving it to rust.

Eventually, however, my father realized the inconvenience of me never picking up my phone (as he would sometimes come home to a very angry wife who felt her daughter was deliberately ignoring her calls), and one Christmas (not too long ago) I was given a newer, more innovative model. Sleek, slim, and dressed in a seductive red, I felt like a middle-aged man trading in his grumpy, overweight divorcee for a curvacious mail-order bride.

Needless to say, my phone and I reconciled for the time being and began to hit it off once more. I wasn't being graced with anymore spam calls, either, so it seemed I had no reason at all to call it quits with the faithful piece of technology.

This is where things get complicated. As my texting plan was amplified to 500 texts a month (unlimited for those with the same service provider), I began to get contacted more by my friends who would rather text than call. It was nice to have a reason to use my phone. It was nice to be able to keep my phone on my person and pull it out when needed.

Unfortunately, there are also "those people" in my contacts. Oh, you know who I mean: the person you met that one time who seemed pretty nice so you exchanged numbers and now he or she won't leave you well enough alone. Through the grape vine they've heard that I was allowed to text, and now they text me. Or, if I didn't give them my number, they got it from a friend-of-a-friend who had my number. Sure, it's swell and all to get a nice "how are you doing" text every so often from someone you haven't heard from in a decent amount of time...but where's the limit?

Sometimes, you just don't want to talk to someone. In person, this can often be solved by making an excuse to get the hell out of dodge (or even pretend to be busy using your phone!). When the unwanted conversation is happening through text, and he or she continues to text you even after you ignore half of their messages...it gets old. You'd think that this incessant need for conversation would fizzle out after you had shot it down so many times...but if anything these people only seem more needy for attention when they think you never wanted to talk in the first place.

I'm not an impolite person; I do believe in giving everyone a chance to get to know them, and vice verse, through conversation (whether in-person or online), but I'm just not a very talkative person when the mood strikes. And, with my stingy view on the amount I text, it irks me up and down to watch my text-alert climb in number due to a single person.

And that brings us to today. I don't want to block the number from my phone, for fear of the guilt that may follow, so once again my phone rests, forever on silent, and out of sight until I know I need it.

Forever Alone.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Ross and Payless Haul

Yesterday I balanced my check book. This made me want to buy a bunch of clothes. Immediately, I found a pair of kitten-heeled floral flats to purchase online that were on sale for the low price of $25. This did not sate me. Now, before I start to sound like some sort of shopaholic, know that although I generally want to buy clothes most of the time, I only ever get the intense urge to do so a few times a year. This time, it was also sparked by the legitimate need for new jeans, as most of mine are worn thin or too big. When I brought this up, my mom suggested this morning that we head over to Ross.

Let me explain something: I love Ross. I dislike how messy and sometimes crowded it can often be, as well as the generally chaotic atmosphere...but I absolutely adore shopping there. It's like a scavenger hunt. A few tons of clothing that doesn't appeal to you in the slightest, with the occasional gem hidden in every rack. I could honestly spend hours in this store, especially considering how much money I had in my bank account. Thankfully, the time my mom had before she needed to go to work restrained me, and I gave myself a tap of $200.

So! Without further ado, let's check out what I got at Ross. Oh, and please forgive the quality of the pictures, as the camera is less than half functional and I pretty much just had to point, shoot, and hope that the quality was decent.

Brand: Be Bop

Brand: J Gee

Brand: Calvin Klein

Brand: 2. B W/U (To Be With You)

All in all, I'm very happy with my purchases. I probably would have bought more for about the same amount (the end total being just over $90 with tax), if it wasn't for the Calvin Klein dress--which was by a large margin the most expensive of what I bought (but I was oh-so attached to it). And those are the most comfortable jeans I've worn in a long time, especially for juniors.

The only problem? I didn't have any shoes to match the aforementioned dress! So, having a little time left, my mom and I sauntered over to Payless, which was located just a hop, skip, and a jump away from our city's Ross. Of course, Payless always has some sort of sale, so buying just one pair was not an option. The haul:

Brand: American Eagle

Brand: American Eagle

Brand: American Eagle

And that was that! My biggest problem has to be a bit of shoe-size confusion--but I seemed to be having this with nearly every single pair of shoes I tried on. My size is a 9, but it felt like everything was either running too large or too small. In the end, the white block heels I bought were a size 8 1/2, and still roomy enough that I was forced to buy a pair of inexpensive heelgrips. The black flats were likewise a size 8 1/2, although they fit fine as they are. The boots are the only shoes I bought to fit at my standard shoe size, although are a bit snug (I can't complain, though, they were on sale and the only pair of snow boots left in the entire store, as it's now summer).

The end result for Payless was a total of a little over $80. I left happy. I set my tap at $200, and I didn't go over! :D

So, in short: never underestimate the clutter of Ross. If there is a moral to this story to be had, it would definitely be for me to buy a new camera in the near future. Yikes!