Do you take your phone everywhere?

[Estermay]

I have read people astounded that others do not take their phone everywhere. I don't. If I am going out to a barwith friends I leave it at-home. No point losing it, which i would if i took it. Or if I am popping out to the local shop I leave it, I don't need it.
So do you take your phone everywhere?
YABU = yes I do
YANBU = I dont

Yes, I like knowing I can always check Google maps, get a taxi, and of course call or text someone if I can't find them when meeting, running late etc. And have access to banking apps if needed, too.

Mine comes everywhere with me. Even the toilets at work in case school needs me (lone parent).

I have people in my life I love , if they need to contact me need help desperately I want to be there . I also had an accident when out walking dog on Salisbury plain once . I was so glad to be able to call for help .

It does seem you do rely on other people instead of taking your own phone with you . Other people messaging your husband , relying on others to pick up the phone in bars .

I don't go from one room to another without my phone!

I take mine pretty much everywhere except to work, because phones are forbidden there! DP and I both have elderly parents with dementia, and I have a child with MH issues, so I like to know I can be contacted.

I use my phone to pay for things, check the bus and train times (the board at the bus stop doesn’t tell me if it’s running late or cancelled), opening/closing hours of places, ordering last minute things, kids’ school updates and emails (oldest is SEN and has daily updates), listening to music and podcasts, checking shop newsletters for sales, etc…

Having my phone on me, means I carry less things and can just use my coat pockets.

Everywhere. For all the reasons already listed. It used to be a mental "keys, wallet" before leaving the house. Then for years "keys, wallet, phone" and now Apple pay has removed the need for wallet in that list, unless I'm needing ID.

I had to vote YABU but I don't think you are. My phone is basically my handbag now (I haven't carried a handbag in years) and I use it to pay for things, make notes, all the stuff I used to have to carry a pen, paper, wallet etc.

But I don't use it when I'm with other people. It sits quietly in my pocket on vibrate and I only look at it if someone phones, which is always important. Messages and other notifications can wait, it's rude to use a phone in company.

10+ years ago, I forgot to take my phone out with me for a post-natal medical appointment. I'd had a rough pregnancy, and a rough birth. DH was giving me a lift home... when I called him. The appointment was dealt with quite quickly and I staggered slowly to the only payphone in the neighbourhood to find it broken. (It now no longer exists as of some years). The pub next to it wasn't open yet. Faced with a choice of staggering slowly back to the GP to try my chances at pursuading them to phone DH (I knew the phone number) or staggering on, I thought I may as well plough on compared to the effort of doubling back. It took 20 minutes to do what would be a 5 minute walk to a healthy person.

Society revolves around the assumption that you have a mobile phone. You can't just leave it at home and pretend it's still 1995 and that those adverts declaring "the future's bright, the future's orange" is an enigmatic mystery. Well you can leave it at home, but you then risk relying on other people because there aren't the payphones any more and society has moved on.

DM never got into the mobile phone thing, and certainly never sullied herself with things like computers and the internet. The reality is that all she's done is make herself very hard to communicate with especially now her ears and legs don't work well enough to pick up the landline in time, and she delegates all the essential computer stuff onto DB or her friends. She is not genuinely living independently of it.

I keep my cards with my phone for space reasons and have since cash was treated akin to toxic waste in 2020, so that means both go together. The advantage of that is that I no longer need to go running with jingling emergency small change for snacks or bus fare. The only regular thing I do without them is the short school run as it is such a minimal distance and chances of emergency child issues is minimal. Social arrangements like the pub or going somewhere secluded like a cemetary, I would take them in case of change of arrangements or personal emergency.

I haven't forgotten how to live without a phone handy at all times, but gone are the days when you needed 10p for the nearby payphone to resolve any issues.

I have an Apple Watch with cellular so never take my phone with me on dog walks or if I'm just popping to the shop. I use my watch for Apple Pay in the shops and I'd also use my watch to call for help if there was an emergency on my dog walk.

My biggest pet hate is people with their face glued to their phone or making calls on loudspeaker when they are walking their dog. Their dog will always be off lead and they pay zero attention to what the dog is up to, could be taking a shit, harassing people/onlead dogs or eating something it shouldn't.

I never leave home without my phone. I've been known to accidentally leave it behind, get a couple of miles up the road, realise I've forgotten it and then turn round and go back to get it. I feel like my right arm has been chopped off of I don't have it with me.

Pretty much lives in my hand. I take it everywhere when out in case I need to be contacted about kids or if something happens to me and I need help. I also have Apple Pay so need it to pay for stuff. If I leave the house I pretty much just have phone and keys so it's no different to taking a purse out really.

I did have a bad experience where DD was really sick and no one could get in touch with me and others when younger having to walk really far because I couldn't call anyone.

I also couldn't give a duck what people think of me having my phone. Or what people think about screen time. I'm fine.

I do wonder why you posted when you’re apparently so comfortable with your decision. Just get on with it then. 🤷🏻‍♀️
If others are astounded that you don’t always carry a phone, why do you care? Do other people’s opinions on things you’re so sure of always bother you?

It seems to me like you know most people have their phone with them, and just wanted to act superior? Like you’re just too much of a free spirit to want to be contactable. 🤣 Its just a phone. Carry it, don’t carry it, who cares.

But when is the end of the evening? What if something happens and he can't get to you or you decided to go to a different bar for various reasons? All solved by a quick phone call or text.

Always, it monitors my blood sugar 24/7 and is always within reach.

Has your DP (or you) ever tried to ring a bar? It's not like the olden days. They don't necessarily even have them and they will rarely answer.

Also, it's one thing saying DP can sort the kids in an emergency, that's great but don't you want to be there looking after them? If something actually happens that will be being sorted before you're even notified.

I am talking about a bar with friends where dp will be picking me up at the end of the evening.

I would definitely have my phone on me so I can text DH when I wanted him to come and get me or if we’d arranged 10pm but if I wanted to stay later, then I could let him know.

Sadly I do!

My phone is always with me. I pay for everything with it, all my club cards are on it, I order my Uber on it, do my shopping, check my bank, the weather, everything! I certainly wouldn't leave home without it, that's the whole point of them, surely?

Didn’t vote as I don’t think you’re being unreasonable at all, but I take mine everywhere. If I have car trouble I will need it, and I often enough get messages I need to respond to. Plus if I stop at a cafe I read on it.

Well this!

I always take my phone out. I'd like to know if the kids were ill or needed me in some way. I use it to pay and get home, either ordering a taxi or looking up bus times etc. It's incredibly useful, I can't think of a good reason not to. I'm still present, I don't sit and scroll tiktok while out with my mates.

I have to. It's my purse and car key too.

Yes.
I use it to pay for things, speak to my husband, the school could contact me if my son needed collecting, I’d use it for a taxi, my husband can track me on it etc in case I didn’t come home when he expected.