I want to talk about two topics, the second one being distant friends, so I’ll just mention that, which may help me to return to it later. As I feel like it’s somewhat easy to have it slipped.
But the first one is more important, it’s about knowing thyself. I’ve bought, with one-click purchase, which is important too—
I’ve bought a matte iPhone case, and I was terrified by this realisation, that I enjoy this case so much. That’s two dollars off Temu.
We won’t go into them being a potential Chinese spy agency in here, or whatever controversies are live about them; I have not many viable alternatives at the moment. So not that I don’t care, but it’s something out of my control at this epoch of my life. We’re buying drone components from China either.
What terrified me is the realisation it’s not a surprise to me. That I like the matte slim case.
The feeling was so intense, like, me having a wife and kids somewhere, in some other country (I came from?), but I travelled to Ukraine, met a local girl, married, we’re having two kids, and one day I wake up with the realisation I have another family somewhere, and I’m just happened to forget them completely, for some reason.
That’s surely not true, I do have some past lovers somewhere across the Earth, most of them are married and likely to have their own kids, independently of myself. So, I’m pretty safe on that.
But this iPhone case thing, I had my first iPhone since early 2012, and at some early point in time, I bought this matte plastic case. I did try everything, including absurdly expensive ones, even having my friends holding me off that fucking gargantuan Apple Store in Hong Kong. As I wanted to buy just one more expensive Apple-made case, many times more expensive than today’s value of that iPhone.
I’m mostly thankful for that.
I did try many cases. All of them? Maybe all of them. I think, there’s no case I haven’t tried yet. The slim one is just my favourite. The matte one. The cheap plastic one.
At some point of my life, I had my iPhone fallen off my hands, it missed my pocket, fell onto the stone floor, and never came back to life. It was dead. I got a newer model, with the same body, and I missed to swap the case.
I have no idea why, I promise. I just, I was … I was somewhat overwhelmed, with life. You know.
The new case was no matte case, apparently, and you know when I noticed that? Today.
Maybe not, maybe yesterday. Or the day before that. This new case arrived two days ago.
And that’s another iPhone, by the way. So, I had a whole life of an iPhone, and that was for a couple of years, maybe even three or four, with completely foreign case. I think it was a free case coming with an iPhone’s protective glass. It was silicone one, I quite liked it, so I used all the time. I even bought the same case for my new iPhone a year or so ago.
I wasn’t even looking for a replacement. That was a one-click purchase. I did that because I saw that case and thought, ‘hey, I may need another one any time soon, so I’d buy it in advance then.’
I don’t really swap the cases. I take one and stick to it till it’s in pieces. Most times it’s enough to buy a new case for a new iPhone.
So, all this was a coincidence.
A coincidence that made me almost panic! I realised it was like, what? Seven years? Five maybe. I don’t remember! I always wore the same cheap slim case. Before one day I just forgot to buy it and realised I missed it so much! Years, many years later! How could I live with that other case?
I mean, those other cases, they weren’t bad. They did a good job at— what, actually? Protecting the phone, isn’t it? Or maybe just protecting my peace of mind about the phone, giving me an illusion they were protecting something.
Anyway. I wear cases these days. I have kids after all.
That’s why I started a blog. I think a blog may help me not having life slipped through the fingers that easily.
I do think It’s wrong to always do the things the same way. But sometimes, you experiment, you find what you’re comfortable with, and it’s natural to stick to it. Otherwise, what if all those experiments were for nothing? It feels bad!
It’s about knowing thyself and not forgetting it. Not forgetting who you are and what stand for either.
It’s really important. It would be so terrifying to wake up one day, and realise I haven’t seen my family for a really long time, because I just forgot they exist!
Not claiming an iPhone is a family. The opposite, having the case to be so much off and not giving a single thought about it, that’s quite an achievement. And I hope all this was not for nothing either. It’s just from now on, I hope I’d not forget what I like, who I love, and what I’m for.
Amen.