A Twitter, Facebook and Celebrity Free Week

My week of freedom didn't start off on the right foot though when I was faced with a four-hour flight delay at LAX. Fortunately, I had brought along the blackberry (just in case I was unable to cope and had a meltdown mid-margarita on the beach). So, alas technology came in handy while I needed something to pass the time and deal with airline drama in the middle of the night. So, I went online via my blackberry and sent a tweet and a status update letting everyone know that I was indeed stranded at the airport en route to Aruba. I checked Continental.com religiously for updates about my delayed flight and inquired via cell phone with an agent about re-booking through another route. I even spent $3 to use an airport computer to check for different flight options.

Did I need to do all this? No, but I had the option, so I used it. I'd like to think this is what is contributing to us becoming a nation of non-social beings. As it turned out, all I needed to do was have a face-to-face chat with the gate agent who assured me the plane was coming; he then moved me to a seat right by the front door so I could run like heck to catch my connection with the ten minutes I had between flights. I caught it with time to spare. 

When I arrived in Aruba, of course, the first thing I did was check to see if my cell phone or blackberry were working. They weren't working and so I was forced to go ahead with my "going dark" plan. So, I threw everything in the suitcase and forgot about them until I arrived back in the states.

I'd like to say it was difficult - that I missed reading what John Mayer or Ashton Kutcher was up to on Twitter. That I wondered what my Facebook friends were doing or eating or worrying about in their status updates. The truth is, I didn't. It was refreshing not to have to check my blackberry for e-mails hoping someone needed me or some celebrity would fall off the deep end so we could all debate it back and forth. Nope.

I didn't care. I read my book, getting lost in Edward and Bella's "Twilight" world, wondering if maybe I might have liked it better if Bella would have... well, if you read the books you know where I am going with this. If you haven't read the books, then what the heck is taking you so long! I resisted the urge to flip through the channels on the TV to see who was getting dumped or heading to rehab. I glanced at CNN on other people's TV's in the gym. Susan Boyle getting a makeover, something about a Craig's List killer and a Miss California Vs. Perez Hilton smack down seemed to be dominating the news. I zoned out and went back to my self-imposed celebrity exile. It felt good to be free of all the nonsense, if only for a little bit.

So do we need all this TMI technology? Probably not. I think we would be just fine with out it all. I went to sleep last night without a care in the world. Still, when I returned to work this morning I edited my Facebook status, sent a Tweet, read 1,500-plus e-mails and caught up on all the celebrity gossip.

Old habits really do die hard.

Follow me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/dishofsalt