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Feeling `naked' without a phone, it's not a good thing That's T Life here I was in the gym wearing nothing but an expression of pure panic. And when I say I was wearing nothing, sadly I'm not talking about being au naturel in the change room, about to hit the showers after a workout. No, I'm talking about being naked as a jaybird in the heart of the gym, amongst the ellipticals. Honestly, I'd never been that naked. Technically speaking, I suppose, you could argue there are no varying levels of nakedness. I mean, you're either naked, or you're not. But I was, like, really naked. Wait! It occurs to me that you may be getting the wrong impression and thinking that I'm talking literally naked, when in fact, I'm talking guratively naked. As in that phrase I keep hearing out of the mouths of men and women, young and old alike: "I feel naked without my phone." And so do I. And I'm not alone. There are scienti c studies, social commentaries, and Facebook pages dedicated to this very theme. Bottom line: a lot of people feel vulnerable, exposed, and `naked' when divested of their phone and/or its contents. This brings me back to the look of pure panic I was wearing when my phone went black at the start of my workout. You see, I carry the soundtrack to my life on 23 | Thursday, February 5, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Andy Juniper Guest Contributor that phone -- new music, old music and solidgold gym jams. I don't want to overstate this, but if you take away my phone, you strip me of my ability to exercise. Oh, let's get real: if you take away my phone, you take away my ability to exist. For instance, after my workout I was slated to have a business lunch at a to-be-determined site. Well, without a phone I had no way contacting my lunch partner to determine the locale. To boot, my family had enlisted me to get groceries on my way home. Naturally, their epic list of all I needed to buy was on my phone, in a category called `Notes'. That's where I keep all my essential information. Blood pressure readings. Books suggestions. Albums recommendations. Where to eat in Chicago. Words I've recently come across that I like: adamantine, opprobrium, insalubrious, to list but a few. Not to mention, writing ideas and novel notions. And the passcode for my neighbor's front door, in case I ever want to break in and water his ferns. So, are you getting the full sense of just how naked I felt without the use of my phone? I left the gym, doing my best to cover that nakedness with layers of winter clothing and raced to the phone store where a technician did her best to ease my panic and x my phone. "I feel naked without my phone," I confessed as she tinkered. Yeah, she replied, everybody says that. And when she had me back up and running -- a simple SIM card issue -- my phone was alight with missed messages. Apparently, while I'd been feeling naked, all those who'd been madly texting me, and getting no response, were fearing that I was... dead. Naked? Dead? Ah, I think this whole mobile phone dependence thing is a tad out of hand. -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook www. facebook.com, or followed on Twitter at www. twitter .com/thesportjesters. Follow Oakville Beaver staff on Twitter: @Oakville_Beaver, @NewsHooked, @Mikedgregory, @Herbgarbutt, @BeaverSports and @Halton_Photog TERR O ATION C O L ON A MILT NLY 0 st 5 m 1 o r CH 2 Shop f TH - MAR 0 M 1 Y R - 3P A U M N A 0 A J Y1 A D R SATU Join TERRA and local farmers, artisans, and other local vendors at the TERRA @ Home Winter Market in Milton! Shop for meats, produce, baked goods and unique & specialty food items. rs o d n e local v ! MILTON LOCATION ONLY 12800 Britannia Rd. · (905) 876-4000 · www.terragreenhouses.com