The bliss of being 396 miles from my lost smartphone

Financial Times

几天前不小心把我的iPhone落在了华盛顿特区的一辆出租车上，发现没有手机的时候，我显示感到心跳加速、相当不安，然后觉得羞愧，最终一种释然和轻松的感觉贯穿着没有手机的这几天。

Last Wednesday, after a seven-day break, I rejoined the modern world. For a full week I had done something frightening, shaming yet ultimately liberating[解放的,自由的].

I had been without a phone.

This strange period started in Washington DC in a taxi bound for[驶往;开往;飞往..] the airport. I had spent the journey doing emails on my phone, which I put down on the seat to pay the driver, only to leave the cab without it. In airport security[机场安检] a few minutes later I reached into my bag. No phone. I emptied it on to the floor. Nothing. My heart started to race, my breathing turned shallow[1] and I was prickling[2] with sweat.

I’ve lost my phone, I wailed[3] at the person next to me. Half a dozen people overheard[无意中听到;旁听,偶然听到], and an impromptu[4] crisis team formed. Someone tried to ring my number, but it was on silent. Others asked if I knew the name of the cab company and if I’d paid by card? No and no, I said.

Already I’d learnt two things. People in general are very nice. And on the scale of[按…的比例;以…的规模] human calamities[人祸] losing your phone is now seen as up there with cardiac arrest[心脏骤停/停止].

Two hours later, queueing for a taxi[排队等出租车] in Boston I felt the need, Ancient Mariner[5] style, to tell my story to the man next to me. He asked for my Apple login details and then showed me on his phone a little blue circle moving slowly over a bridge. There it is, he said. It’s 396 miles away. I looked at the blob[6] and wanted to cry.

In my hotel room I sat on the edge of one of two vast beds and gazed down[俯瞰;凝视] on the city, lit up below me. Room service was on its way, and from my laptop I emailed various people to say I’d lost my phone. By any standards I was safe, facing no imminent[即将发生的;临近的] or distant risk. Yet still I felt all wrong: exposed and vulnerable. The stress of the speech I was giving was nothing by comparison.

At the conference the next day the delegates filed out[陆续退出;列队出来;一个接一个出来] for coffee, but there was no networking going on as everyone was in silent communion[(思想感情的)交流,交融] with their emails. With no such comfort blanket[7] I had no choice but do something retro[怀旧的;重新流行的;模仿过去式样的] — engage a stranger in conversation, who rewarded me by being both interesting and vaguely useful.

Later out on the street and bound for South Station[波士顿南站], I did another thing I hadn’t done since I got my first smartphone. I asked a woman for directions, and she duly provided them. Here was my next discovery: asking a person is better than Google Maps. It is faster and doesn’t require reading glasses[老花镜].

On the train to New York I did my emails. Because it is a kerfuffle[8] opening the laptop and signing on, I did them in one go, after which I shut the machine and read a book.

It then occurred to me that the invention of the BlackBerry[黑莓手机] was not progress. There is nothing to be gained from having your emails follow you around — and much to be lost as it detracts from whatever else you are doing.

By day three, all panic had gone, replaced by an unaccustomed[不习惯;不适应;反常的] feeling of freedom. Without my whole world tugging[9] at me from my pocket I could simply marvel at[对…感到惊异;惊叹] the beauty of Central Park South in the early morning sun.

Back home in London there were only two occasions when a phone might have come in handy. The first was when I’d missed the last overground home, and I wanted Uber, but this wasn’t too bad as soon enough a bus came trundling[10] along.

The second was when I was meeting someone who had tried to text to tell me she was running late. All that happened was I was left waiting for 20 minutes, which I spent thinking about what I wanted from the meeting.

When my new phone arrived last Wednesday, I felt no pleasure at the neat white oblong box[椭圆形的/长方形盒子]. I opened my text messages dreading[11] all the messages I’d missed, only to find none at all — texts don’t automatically transfer from one gadget to another.

There was only one bad thing about losing my phone. I lost face at the same time. When one of my sons left his phone on a park bench a few months ago I told him if he wasn’t mature enough to look after a smartphone, he wasn’t mature enough to own one. My loss proves something different. Evidently, I’m too mature to look after mine. And now I know I’m too mature to need it either.

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[1]my breathing turned shallow

（呼吸）浅的，弱的 shallow breathing involves taking in only a small amount of air each time

[2]prickle：If part of your body prickles, it feels as if a lot of sharp points are touching it because you are frightened or excited. （身体部位）感到刺痛

Turner started to be worried and felt the back of his neck prickle.

特纳开始焦虑不安，感到颈后部阵阵刺痒。

[3]wail：to complain loudly or strongly 高声抱怨；大发牢骚

[ + that ] Business people wailed that their trade would be ruined.

生意人都强烈抱怨说他们的买卖会被毁掉的。

to make a long, high cry, usually because of pain or sadness 恸哭；号啕大哭

The women gathered around the coffin and began to wail, as was the custom in the region.

女人们都围到了棺材旁，开始号啕大哭，当地的风俗就是这样。

[4]impromptu [ɪmˈprɒmptjuː]

done or said without earlier planning or preparation 无准备的，即兴的

an impromptu party/performance

临时晚会／即兴表演

[5]Ancient Mariner 《古舟子咏》

柯勒律治的名著《古舟子咏》是一首令人难以忘怀的音乐叙事诗，该诗简洁的结构和朴素的语言向人们讲述了一个生动的罪与赎罪的故事。在这首诗中，一位古代水手讲述了他在一次航海中故意杀死一只信天翁的故事（水手们认为它是象征好运的一种鸟）。这个水手经受了无数肉体和精神上的折磨后，才逐渐明白“人、鸟和兽类”作为上帝的创造物存在着超自然的联系。这首诗有许多超自然的人物和事件，充满激昂的语调，男主人公自我纠缠，所有这一切都构成了浪漫主义文学的标志。

[6]blob：（尤指液体的）一点，一滴；（颜色的）一小片，斑点 a small amount or drop of sth, especially a liquid; a small area of colour

[7]comfort blanket：安抚巾是一种特殊的布料，在孩子出生之后将安抚巾随时放在孩子的身边，以便将来能更好的安抚孩子的情绪。

[8]kerfuffle [kə(r)'fʌf(ə)l]

noise, excitement, and argument 吵闹；混乱，骚动

Her glasses were broken in the kerfuffle.

混乱之中她的眼镜打碎了。

[9]tug：to pull something quickly and usually with a lot of force （用力）拉，拖，拽

Tom tugged at his mother's arm.

汤姆拽着妈妈的胳膊。

[10]trundle：(to cause something) to move slowly on wheels （使）慢慢地移动，滚动

She trundled the wheelbarrow down the path.

她沿着花园慢慢地推着手推车。

Hundreds of trucks full of fruit and vegetables trundle across the border each day.

每天都有成百上千辆满载水果、蔬菜的卡车慢慢驶过边界。

[11]dread：to feel extremely worried or frightened about something that is going to happen or that might happen 对…感到恐惧；害怕；担心

He's dreading the exam - he's sure he's going to fail.

他在为驾照考试而担心——他觉得自己肯定过不了。

I'm dreading having to meet his parents.

因为不得不见他的父母，我很害怕。

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