Low tech

It’s not surprising to me that my phone broke during this co-op. The state of my personal technology is almost entirely in a state of turn-over at any given time. I am someone who simultaneously likes to try out new things and is clumsy which makes for me having 0-2 working phones at any given time. 

This said, after two weeks into my time at Camphill, my phone broke. Simply stopped charging. My fellow coworker and I drove an hour away to a Walmart to try to get it fixed. The man at the tech kiosk turned the phone inside out, monkeying with all sorts of batteries and ports and magnetic screws. A performance that I found to be entirely impressive and unexpected at a counter nestled away in a mostly-lit corner of bedazzled phone cases. 

After half an hour, the man handed back a dead piece of technology. 

“What do you think it could be?” I said. 

“It likely has to do with the main board.” he replied. 

I didn't push further.

Camphill is not high-tech. Not even moderately-tech. In my introductory post, I noted that the houses do not have microwaves. But if you account for the majority, you could easily list smartphones and computers as well. Camphill is built structurally to put one happily in the present. There is no music during work, the work is with your hands, and often around other people. I like that.

So I’ve decided not to fix my phone, and use a flip phone instead. Ah yes, the feature phone. Your average uncle’s dumb-or-worse phone. The ones where you have to press the number 7 four times to get the letter S. This is my peace. 

That night, I called my mom over Aspen’s landline and told her what had happened. Committed flip phone user herself, she congratulated me. I don’t know how long this will last, I’m not even sure this is a particularly significant move on my part. But it’s trying on a new hat, and celebrating the rich community find myself in: disconnected.

September 22nd, 2020