There was a time when ringing tones were the very first thing I updated whenever I got a new device or whenever an old one was returned from the repair shop. I absolutely loved my ringing tones at the time and could spend seconds appreciating the sound before responding to an incoming call. The beautiful part was that the ringing tones were carefully curated to cut across certain aspects like personalization, mood enhancement, social expression and even down to entertainment.
This was the period before we were terrorized and by “we” I mean my colleagues and I.
A few years later, I found myself in a strict AP program where rules were taken seriously by the authorities. I got into trouble for something as trivial as using an earpod. On one of those days, we were having a lecture and I had forgotten to mute my phone or at least put it in vibration mode. The particular lecturer in class that day always appeared to be a staunch disciplinarian so many people didn't vye to get on his wrong side.
The lecture had gone on for about thirty minutes before a call came in. In the spur of the moment, I wrestled to silence the device that was in my handbag but I was already spotted out because I was the only one fidgeting.
It took two sentences to destabilise me for the entire day. The first was, “bring that phone”. The whole class turned in my direction and I was more than certain that I had been spotted out. Luckily for me, I always kept my ringing tones sane so the sound wasn't entirely disrupting.
Like a sheep being led to a slaughter, I walked to the front of the lecture Hall and handed my phone over to the lecturer. All that was going through my mind was; just hand the phone over to the man and after the lecturer you could beg him to return the phone. This thought came to an abrupt end when the man made the second sentence “don't bother coming to my office to beg after this lecture”. My innate instinct was to chuckle because what do you mean I wouldn't be getting my phone back? Without flinching, I returned to my seat and couldn't think straight anymore. Fans were spinning but I was sweating.
As expected, the man dashed out of the class immediately after the lecture and it was then I realized I had to put down my macho-girl act and actually run after this man. I spent close to three hours begging, prostrating, running errands and doing all sorts of tasks for this man. Because of this, I missed the rest of my lectures for that day and devastated would be an understatement as to what I felt.
After promising, almost a million times, never to allow my phone to ring again, the man returned the phone to me. One could say that this was my turning point. From that day onward, I totally switched off my phone whenever I got into a lecture hall, only switching it back on during breaks or when I returned home.
Eventually, I stopped using ringing tones all together and placed my phone constantly on silent mode. Initially, I thought it was just for the time being but it soon became a habit. A blissful habit if I must add.
My phone always being on silent mode has never been a problem because my mobile device is always with me, except on a few unavoidable occasions.
To answer the question for the week, my mobile device is always muted but on days when the phone isn't silenced, I fall back to the default ringing tone. This leaves out the option of switching it up every now and then.
Images are mine