January 19, 2016

Why I really needed a new phone


I was eligible for an iPhone upgrade in November.  I wrote over two years ago (I can't find this post but I know it exists somewhere) about about how I was apprehensive to give up my 4S to get a new one back then because of all the memories my first iPhone and I had together.  We'd been through a lot!  However, I do still have it, in a box in the basement.

With this phone, a 5C, I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

I told Scott that I wanted a new phone because I wanted a new phone.  It wasn't broken, cracked, or scratched. I just have very few positive memories attached to it.  I told him I wanted to get rid of it because it reminded me of Missouri and Missouri was hard.

He thought I was crazy (and on some level, I'd agree) and said, You had a lot of friends in Missouri.  True.  The people I knew in Missouri were wonderful.  But Missouri was the year where my skin decided to betray me and that really colored my experience in a negative way.  It was the year I went to doctor's appointment after doctor's appointment, starting with my skin and leading to them trying to figure out an underlying cause.  Then we found out we were moving after 11 months, I had to quit another job, I had to apply for another job, we moved into a unicorn-adorned remodeling project in the desert and it was hot and there were moths and....It was a stressful year full of being unsure of myself.  I had no friends in Colorado, Scott was gone a lot, I knew nothing about the place, and I'm just now (18 months later) feeling like I finally have a footing. 2014 and a giant chunk of 2015 were HARD.

So I got the 5C phone right as all this was being set into motion in November 2013 and, ever since, I've felt like I've been carrying around a weight.  My phone, obviously, wasn't not pulling me down but it was like this abstract symbol of all of that heaviness and I needed to get rid of it because I didn't want that feeling anymore.

Therefore, when the Apple Store offered me $200 for it, I jumped on that. They made me sign a form saying that I would not ask for my old phone back because it would be shipped off to California to be refurbished as soon as I watched them destroy the SIM card.

I didn't even hesitate.  That $200 bought me my new iPhone 6, an Otterbox, and a screen guard. And I got money back on an Apple giftcard (maybe I need a new iPad...you never know).

If you had asked me to give up my 4S a few years ago, I wouldn't have. It means too much to me. I can be ridiculously sentimental, but I was not even wavering in handing over my 5C.  It was a definite non-decision.

Do you use phone upgrades right away? I tend to sit on them for a few months, which is dumb because 2 years is 2 years. Sometimes it takes awhile to adjust to the change of a new one, I guess.

7 comments:

  1. I don't use my phone upgrades right away. A) I'm lazy and B) I like to wait a bit for some of the bugs on the new technology to get worked out (in the software, etc). Also, I have to bring myself to part with the money.

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  2. I'm itching for a new iPhone, my 5s is two years old... but I'll be getting one in December when we move back from Korea.

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  3. this is another way I know we're related! I sit on mine for a few months and always HATE the new phone for at least a week because it just 'feels' different. I keep track of phones by school years, like my LG was what I graduated college with, my 4S was what I started grad school with, my 6 was what I finished grad school with, etc. Thinking of my various phones from undergrad is fun because they weren't smart phones yet...crazy to think that I had to check my email on a COMPUTER haha

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  4. I'm usually not one to upgrade my phone right away and I don't feel the need to run out and buy the newest iphone every time it's released. I guess if my phone still does everything I don't see the need for a change. Also, completely unrelated to the point of this post, I still can't believe someone would ever decorate a room in unicorns.

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  5. I actually do use my upgrades as soon as I can in most instances! I think it's because I'm iPhone obsessed and usually my impatience leads me to get the last eat version a month or two before the latest latest version comes out. Haha! I'm eligible in a few months, and I now want a 6S. We shall see!

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  6. I upgrade as soon as I can! I just traded in my 5s for the 6s Plus this weekend & I love it! I also like that I can now upgrade every year once my phone is 50% paid off! In the past by the time my upgrade rolls around I need a new phone. The battery on my 5s wouldn't hold a charge for very long.

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  7. I used my upgrade right away the last time and it was worth it however I may wait a bit the next time around.

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