Constable: When pandemic gets tough, we reach for this
Today marks 365 days since I last sat down with people, shared a conversation that ended with handshakes and went back to the busy newsroom to crank out their story in my cubicle surrounded by busy editors and reporters on deadline.
Since the pandemic arrived in the suburbs last March, I've conducted a handful of face-to-face interviews, mostly outside, all with masks, and none since cold weather arrived. I've written all those columns (including this one) alone in my kitchen, while my wife worked out of her makeshift office in one of our sons' otherwise vacant bedrooms.
I never thought I could survive a year without the newsroom buzz, friendly conversations, office snacks, the energy of like-minded newspaper folks and the daily joys of making a living writing columns about the folks I've met.
Lots of suburban office workers, while probably thrilled with the commute from bedroom to home office, know that pain of isolation.
While we've been getting by without that in-person part of our life for a year, a new survey suggests there is something we residents of Illinois can't go very long without. And it's not food and water.
In 1943, when he was a frail man of 74, Mahatma Gandhi staged a nonviolent protest by fasting for 21 days, allowing himself only sips of water. Others, generally prisoners making political protests, have made it a month without food, but they die if not nourished beyond that.
A few people reportedly have gone as long as a couple weeks without water, while most of us would die within a week without hydration.
But how long could we go without our cellphone?
A new survey by GearHungry.com, which monitors men's gear, gadgets and gifts, says the typical Illinois resident could go 1.4 days (33 hours and 36 minutes) without their ubiquitous cellphones.
As shocking and appalling as that seems, it makes sense. I am one of those people who rarely posts anything but my columns on social media. I don't tell you where or what I'm eating, and certainly don't post pictures of wherever or whatever that might be. I resent the intrusion my cellphone has on my life. That said, I can't remember the last day I spent without using my phone.
The survey says Illinois residents are slightly more dependent on our phones than most of the nation, as the average length of time an American can go without a phone is 1.6 days. Results from all the states are shown at gearhungry.com/infographic/pandemically-unplugged-days-without-cellphone/
Residents of Maine, which offers plenty of natural beauty and a few days where cellphones probably freeze or get eaten by moose, said they could go the longest, 3.9 days, without using their cellphones. The most phone-dependent Americans live in North Dakota, where residents said they could go an average of just 9 hours and 36 minutes without grabbing their cellphone to play Candy Crush, post photos of the painted canyon in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, order a Clark Street Sammich-to-go from the Walrus Restaurant in Bismarck or simply talk to relatives who moved south to Pierre.
Using our phones so much isn't healthy, as 29% of respondents said they aimlessly scroll through apps every few minutes, even though they know nothing has changed. Another 28% say being able to call up pandemic news on their phones 24/7 has made their preexisting anxiety about the virus worse.
Almost half (47%) of people in relationships admit that they look at their phones first, before saying hello to their partners. That could also explain why 18% of people say they have argued about a partner's phone usage.
With vaccines making progress and people being smart, our pandemic reliance on our cellphones could end soon. At least, that's what I got out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tweet that just popped up on my cellphone while I was trying to play my wife in a game of Words With Friends.