A Spooky Disconnect

My initial thought about this assignment was that it was actually dangerous considering the range of events this weekend. With Halloween being arguably the most social of holidays Madison draws a large crowd from surrounding cities and states. During the three days of Halloween, Freakfest, and departure back home, there are probably twice the amount of people on campus than a typical, non-holiday weekend. Being in a densely populated area, like our campus, at night can be a scary experience if you are traveling alone or aren't quite sure where you are going. As a college student, I am in frequent use of my cell phone for both communication and navigation. Disconnecting myself the the network of smart phones and internet presented me with many challenges in a society where you are rarely deprived of technology.

This weekend, while refraining from using my phone, I decided that I would try to use everyday skills to navigate to various gatherings of my friends instead of using GoogleMaps. After compiling a list of the different addresses I was planning on checking out, I had quickly realized that I didn't have a map of Madison. Remembering that the city is littered with bus stops, I stopped at one shortly after leaving my apartment to check the map of the bus routes. I was able to successfully hop from bus stop to bus stop by using the directions and eventually found the addresses I was looking for. Once at the house, communicating with my friend who was already inside wasn't a possibility in the slightest. While disconnecting from my phone was inconvenient I was able to find alternatives to each service I was trying to avoid. 

I caved in only half way through my weekend mission when I had gotten on the wrong bus and ended up in a neighborhood I was unfamiliar with. While nothing actually bad came of shutting my phone off, I do feel that in the society we live in today it could be dangerous and irresponsible to refuse such a strong and beneficial technology.