Oy! As of late my cell phone won’t stay charged. It’s a bit on the old side and the lemonade shake-up dunk it received at a summer festival has just about done it in. The worst part is, I’m not due for an upgrade for a few more weeks. This phone will never make it that long, once you have one problem a whole slew of others begin rapidly following suit. It will only be a matter of time before this phone joins all the others in my phone graveyard.

How am I supposed to Facebook on the go when my phone is on 10 percent after ten minutes of games and a phone call? I had to cut my mom short because the thing was beeping in my ear. All I really had the chance to say was, “Mom, let me know when this phone is due for an upgrade, I’ve already had to charge it twice.” It’s as if they build these things to fall apart right before you need an upgrade. I even ponder why I don’t just get a landline if my phone has to spend most of the day on the charger. This phone isn’t even worth two pennies.

Just as I’m about ready to launch into fully hissy fit mode, that’s when it hits me, how stupid I am acting. It’s my fault it’s broken in the first place. I dropped my phone in the lemonade, and I dropped it on the ground and broke the screen. My phone was in this condition because I had done such a bang up job of taking care of it. It was my fault I couldn’t use it more than ten minutes without needing the charger.

I wasn’t mad at myself, however. I was irritated that my convenience was interrupted. My mobile phone was immobile, and it was genuinely causing distress in my life. Was I really getting worked up over my inability to put my phone in my pocket? Yes. Had I become too dependent on my phone to provide entertainment? Yes. Was I expecting some important life changing phone call? No. Was it entirely broken? No.

Nonetheless, I was agitated. Instead of being annoyed, I should have been grateful, grateful that I had a means to contact someone if I needed to, grateful that for ten minutes I was able to play some mindless games or that I could talk to my mom for a few minutes.

Does it still annoy me? Of course. I just picked up my phone, saw the battery, and got annoyed all over again. Let’s face it, no matter how wrong or pretentious we know we are, everyone gets upset when our modern conveniences are interrupted. Nothing sends us into a downward spiral quicker than an interruption to our daily lives. The next time your phone only holds charge for an hour, get annoyed, realize how the ridiculous situation has so much power over you, be glad you have phone, plug it in and ride it out. You are lucky to have one at all. Besides, you’ll upgrade soon anyways. We always do.