The Frustration of A Day Without Reception (I Wish I Were Analog)
20 Sep 2025 #miscI just had lunch. I’m standing in front of the counter to pay. But my bank app keeps loading.
I toggle airplane mode to make my phone reconnect. That’s how a coder fixes anything, right? Restarting everything… No luck. I had no choice but to pay with the last bucks I had.
With only two bars, I try to find the address of the closest Government office I need to visit. That’s why I had crossed the city. My browser shows a painfully slow progress bar. I only have two hours left before the office closes. It’s a Friday. This year the President passed an order to reduce the working schedule of all Government offices. I ask for directions. You know, anyone can get to Rome asking for directions, as we said in my hometown.
***
I make it to the office. Turns out, I wasn’t that far. It’s the first time I’ve done that errand. I need a copy of an official document. I explain what I need to the guy behind a protective glass. There are cameras on every corner. He tells me I need the document ID and the expedition date. I have them on my email. Oh, I can’t log in. Another loading animation. The guy tells me the major phone operator has had network issues all day long. He can’t use his phone either.
With less than one hour left, I start to walk around. I remember an old Internet room from my college days nearby. After walking around three blocks, I find the place. It’s a small shop with four old PCs to access the Internet. It felt like the early 2000s, accessing my Messenger account to chat with my friends using funny animations. I could access my email account to get the ID and the issuance date of the document I wanted copied.
***
I rush back to the Government office. I know I have to accept what Life sends me. But I’m not enjoying what I have in front of me. I slip a paper with the document ID and date under the protective glass. “These are the right numbers, but this wasn’t registered in this office.” Arrggg!
All that chaos just because I didn’t have reception. All I needed was a yellow-page phone book, pocket money, and a notebook instead of a smartphone connected to the Internet. Maybe analog wasn’t that bad after all.