Love Your Network/U.S. Cellular Phone Challenge

How did we ever survive without a phone?  Do you remember a time you misplaced your phone or even lost it?

It's easy to take our phones for granted these days, especially when you are covered by U.S. Cellular.  U.S. Cellular knows that having an unreliable network is almost as bad as not having your phone at all.

Earlier this month, U.S. Cellular partnered with  U.S. comedian and filmmaker Mark Malkoff to create the “U.S. Cellular No Phone Challenge,” a social experiment to see what happens when an avid mobile phone user goes an entire week without their device. He chronicled his experiences via Facebook and Twitter.  He also posted video on YouTube.  

I couldn't do that challenge, but remember back to the days before I had a cell phone.  I had a young child and my car broke down, actually 2 separate times, both in winter.  I had to go into a nearby business and ask to use their phone.  Carrying in a young child, they were very nice to me.

Just thinking about it now, there are times I misplace my phone and the OMG moment of where did I put it now?  My phone is my lifeline to family members and if they can't reach me, I would feel awful if it were urgent.  So I just imagine what it would be like without a phone?  My son communicates with me after school via text.  If he's heading home, afterschool activity, what time he needs to be picked up or if he's heading to a friend's house.  So, I wouldn't know what he's up to.  My daughter is in an Adult Day Program for disabled adults so I couldn't be reachable without my cell phone.  My mom is in an assisted living facility and I need my phone to stay in touch with her, the staff and at times, her doctor's office, as well as other family members concerned about her.

Mobile devices help us communicate more frequently, share experiences immediately.  At home or on the go, U.S. Cellular provides the tools we need to help consumers create, discover, enchance and share life's Better Moments with their families.

With nearly half of Americans pledging to communicate more often with family and friends in 2014, mobile phones will prove to be essential for those looking to create better moments with those they care about. So essential in fact, that one in five smartphone owners would rather live without food and water than their mobile devices, according to a recent U.S. Cellular survey. The survey found 76 percent of smartphone users would rather live without chocolate, while 69 percent would rather live without caffeine. (Between November 15 - December 2, 2013, 500 nationally representative online interviews were conducted among smartphone users in partnership with Martiz Research.)

Would you ever try being without your phone for a week or even a day?  If you do, what did you miss out on?  If just imagining it, what do you think you would miss or have a hard time doing?  Let me know in the comments below, or tweet @USCellular using hashtag #nophone.

*I have been provided this information by U.S. Cellular.  I have been compensated as a U.S. Cellular Better Moments Blog Ambassador.  All opinions expressed are my own.