An Unplanned Digital Detox

In a world that seems to thrive on constant connectivity and digital dependency, it's often easy to forget the unexpected twists and turns that the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) environment can throw our way. In one seemingly ordinary moment, my husband, Roberto, found himself thrust into a situation that perfectly encapsulated the essence of today's unpredictable world.

Picture this: Roberto and his team are on a business trip, living it up in a pousada with a promisingly refreshing pool. On Sunday afternoon the sun is blazing, turning the pool into an inviting oasis of coolness. Roberto, like any sane person in a scorching situation, is eager to take the plunge. The only problem? His iPhone, his trusty digital sidekick, was chilling in his pocket.

As we all know, iPhones aren't exactly fans of spontaneous pool parties, and Roberto's device was no exception. The moment it hit the water, it was as if the phone itself exclaimed, "I'm outta here!" Roberto fished it out in a panic, but alas, the damage was done. His phone, once a marvel of modern technology, was now acting like it had attended a séance with some mischievous water spirits.

But this was no ordinary mishap; it was a glimpse into the VUCA world we navigate daily. In the face of adversity, Roberto resorted to a classic trick of putting a wet phone in a bag of rice. He hoped that the grains of wisdom from this age-old remedy would somehow coax his iPhone back to life. But deep down, he knew the chances of success were about as high as a cat winning a game of chess.

Still, Roberto wasn't one to give up easily. He visited a nearby repair shop, where the technician gave him the kind of look usually reserved for hopeful parents at a talent show audition. The prognosis? Not great. The iPhone had apparently been on its own little aquatic adventure, and it wasn't planning to share its secrets anytime soon.

For a man who was typically inseparable from his iPhone, Roberto found himself in uncharted territory. Without his constant WhatsApp notifications, YouTube videos, and Instagram scrolls, his business trip had unexpectedly transformed into a digital detox boot camp.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Roberto had no choice but to borrow his colleague's phone whenever he needed to communicate with someone. It was probably like watching a time traveler trying to decipher hieroglyphics, but instead of ancient symbols, it was the layout of an Android operating system. He was swiping in all the wrong directions and opening random apps, —it must have been a sight to behold.

For Roberto, losing his iPhone was as if he had stumbled into a time machine and landed squarely in the 1990s, a decade when having a cell phone was a luxury, not a necessity and cell phones were simply phones – nothing smart about them. Remember those days when you had to wait until you were home to check your messages? Roberto was living it! No more 24x7 availability, no more Google Maps to guide him around town, and no more selfies to document his every move.

As he grumbled his way through this digital time warp, Roberto’s colleagues couldn't help but laugh at his predicament. "Welcome to the '90s, Roberto!" When he told me this story, I couldn’t believe that he was surviving without his phone – he hasn’t done this since he got his first smartphone (a Blackberry) about 20 years ago.

So, the next time you're glued to your screen and contemplating a digital detox, just remember Roberto's unplanned journey to the 1990s. Sometimes, life has a funny way of reminding us to put down our phones, actually talk to people, and enjoy the simpler things. Being unplugged in a retro retreat isn’t the worst thing that can happen. In fact, a digital detox provides a good opportunity to slow down and appreciate the tangible, real world.

PS Roberto must have a zombie phone because the technician miraculously brought it back to life, albeit without the facial recognition feature.

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