It’s not a good feeling when your cell phone’s battery power winds down to one bar. There’s that moment of dread, followed by uneasiness. On my phone, the display turns from a bright and cheery green 3- bar or 2-bar indicator to a dreary, solitary orange bar. As you could guess, I’m currently held hostage behind a single bar. What do I do? Do I dare leave the house? What if my phone dies? Where is my charger?
I remember Captain Larby’s cautionary tales about when he used to leave his phone charging whenever he was home. Then Dr. Doop warned that doing so can trick your battery. A certain school of thought has it that you’re better off letting your battery run down completely before charging it. With my old cell phone, I thought I was cheating battery death by turning it off during my office hours. I felt like a genius because my phone would hold a charge for two weeks. That eventually caught up with me, as did the battery’s old age, and I was lucky to get two days out of it.
But now my phone is young, spry, and the battery isn’t tricked. Still, it can be torture waiting for that one bar to topple. Considering it takes anywhere from two to four hours to charge, and one bar can last two days or more, these little hunks of aluminum and plastic can have a powerful hold over our lives. Do I go out tonight without it? Do I take my chances with one bar? Do I catch up with my friends later and sit here while my phone charges? It’s strange how much cell phones have affected our lives in just the last eight or so years.
