Getting back home to Spain required a Covid form with a QR code. The airline employee at the Newark check-in counter seemed baffled by my not having a smartphone and told me in a conclusive tone that the QR-coded form is required, despite my proof of vaccination. I started to panic and said, “So, everyone needs to buy one product in order to fly now?” He said, “I don’t make the rules” – an Orwellian response if ever there was one.

That stuck out to me in this article on needing a smartphone. The accessibility of flying was reduced to those with the money, and inclination, to purchase a smartphone.

I keep trying to leave my iPhone in the office for the weekend, but something always means I need to have it around. Recently, my wife wanted to text me a photo instead of just making a decision on her own at the store. I hated every minute I was required to be a slave to my phone.

Back in the “old” days, she would have made the decision on her own after we had a discussion at home.

At least once a week, I resent my phone, and it’s intrusion into my life.