Note to self: use the drive

It was bound to happen. Once, I left it in the taxi that dropped me off at the airport for my trip to Peru. When I got back, the taxi driver kindly (after offering some cash) returned it. Then, I left it in the bus. Twice. My mom had to go get it both times. So, considering its past, I thought my cellphone was immortal, that it was always going to come back to me whenever I forgot it. Oh how wrong I was.

I ended up losing it forever in the most ridiculous way you could imagine. Let’s look at the episode step by step:

Maria goes to the bathroom at her school at 10:15 am
She places her cellphone in the shelf inside the stall
Maria leaves the cellphone behind as she washes her hands and goes out of the bathroom
A couple steps later and Maria realizes something is missing, but when she goes back for it, it’s gone.

I asked every woman in that bathroom about it, including the one who had just gotten out of the stall I left it in. Nothing. How is that possible? More that 30 seconds could not have passed from the moment I left it. I remained calm as I remembered all the times my cellphone was left behind but then it was recovered. Except this time, it wasn’t.

What is a 21 year old college student with 8 projects to turn in, an afternoon job and a long distance relationship supposed to do without a cellphone? Cry. And that’s what I did. Multiple times. It may sound a bit ridiculous to be crying about something as replaceable as a cellphone, but when you zoom in, it’s so much more than that.

Reminders, documents, conversations and… photos. I lost all my photos. It really hurts me whenever I think I may never see them again. That trip to Peru? Gone. Last Christmas at my grandma’s house? Also gone. And all because I didn’t use the drive.

I always had a bit of resistance against using the drive. It just feels like my photos are so vulnerable there, like anybody could see them. Like Google could see them. A bit paranoid, I know. But now that I think about it, if Google really wanted to see my failed selfies, endless pictures of my dog being cute, memes and my boyfriend, I bet they would do it whether the photos were on the drive or not.

So, moral of the story: take better care of your cellphone and USE THE DAMN DRIVE.