s/o teens and emergencies and cell phones and self-reliance

[SKL]

Apparently nowadays, when things go awry for teens, the assumption is that they will immediately contact their parents, who will receive and act on the message immediately.  Am I right?

 

Is this, on balance, a good thing?

 

When I was a kid (and probably most of us here), if I got myself into a fix I might have wished I could call my dad, but the fact was that I couldn't.  I had to figure it out.  I had to look inside myself and awaken my dormant talents and figure out a solution.  I think I grew a lot during those times.

 

I wonder what we are taking away from our kids if we take the place of their inner strength and problem-solving abilities.

 

Does anyone do it differently?  Thoughts?

[Pawz4me]

I can't say that I ever got into a ton of trouble as a teen.  But if I had I'm pretty sure the first thing I would have done would have been to call my parents as soon as I could get to a phone.  I'm referring to things like car trouble, an accident, etc.  FWIW, I'm 52.

[Daria]

Apparently nowadays, when things go awry for teens, the assumption is that they will immediately contact their parents, who will receive and act on the message immediately.  Am I right?

 

Is this, on balance, a good thing?

 

When I was a kid (and probably most of us here), if I got myself into a fix I might have wished I could call my dad, but the fact was that I couldn't.  I had to figure it out.  I had to look inside myself and awaken my dormant talents and figure out a solution.  I think I grew a lot during those times.

 

I wonder what we are taking away from our kids if we take the place of their inner strength and problem-solving abilities.

 

Does anyone do it differently?  Thoughts?

 

I'm not sure why you have this idea?  

 

When I was a teenager, it was rare for me to be in a place without either a house phone, or a pay phone.  Pay phones were everywhere and my parents always made sure I had a quarter in my pocket when I left.  If I needed to call my parents, I could.  If mom wasn't home, I'd call Dad's office, and his secretary always knew where he was.  I didn't use this ability often, but it came in handy a time or two.  If my parents went out in the evening, they always left us a note with the number of the place where they'd be.  I don't ever remember using it, but I certainly remember having it.

 

My teenager usually carries a cell phone, but rarely uses it to call me in an emergency.  In fact, there have been a few times when I wished he'd call, because the "solutions" he came up with weren't my favorites.  But he's pretty good at figuring things out.  

[Mimm]

There's trouble and there's trouble. There are certain situations I think having a parental safety net is incredibly valuable, perhaps life saving.

[AmandaVT]

I'm in my late 30's and I would call my parents or my aunt if I got into any kind of trouble. Car trouble, accident, etc. 

 

We had a car phone back in the early 90's by the time I was driving, so I could use that back then! If I was with someone else, we'd find a payphone or ask to use a phone of a local business or something.

[SKL]

Another thought:  our generation figured stuff out for ourselves because we had to.  We have this experience-based wisdom to pass down to our kids should they call us for help.  Where will our kids find the needed wisdom when their kids call them decades from now?

[Daria]

Another thought:  our generation figured stuff out for ourselves because we had to.  We have this experience-based wisdom to pass down to our kids should they call us for help.  Where will our kids find the needed wisdom when their kids call them decades from now?

 

Well, I still disagree with your original premise, but if our generation was able to solve all these problems without help, why would our grandchildren need adult wisdom?  Aren't we doing our grandchildren a favor by giving them parents who won't help them?

[bettyandbob]

I'm 49. If I had car trouble, I got to a phone and called parents.

 

Other things, I did not involve my parents.

 

My dd has a phone. She doesn't call me for problems. If I am standing with her and something comes up she turns to me, like I'm supposed to come up with the solution. However, if there's a problem and I'm not there, she does something about it now. I find out because she likes to sit in my bed before she goes to bed and talk about her day. So, when I think there might be a problem and I'm going to be with dd, I often hang back and get out of sight so that she just takes care of it, whatever it is.

 

When she was younger and I was the source for solving problems, I tried to involve to model what to do. I'd list out options to consider--that might involve looking up businesses or consulting open dates on the family calendar (which is now linked on her phone) or other stuff. I verbalized/modeled the process of what to do as I did it. Hopefully, she picked up a few things.

 

She very rarely calls me. The latest incident of her calling had nothing to do with a problem that required her solving. She got to work and found her work schedule had been changed without her being told (the schedule covers 6 weeks). She called because we have 2 cars and 4 people working. One reason I keep everyone's work schedule is so I know where and when a car has to be available.

[Joker]

Oldest dd was left behind at Disney World on a middle school field trip. She didn't use her phone to call me or her dad. She did use it to call another student on the bus and have them inform an adult that she wasn't there but on her way. So, I'm really glad she had a phone. Having one doesn't mean they will always call parents to fix things but it does make it easier, and safer, to fix problems.

[catz]

 

My teenager usually carries a cell phone, but rarely uses it to call me in an emergency.  In fact, there have been a few times when I wished he'd call, because the "solutions" he came up with weren't my favorites.  But he's pretty good at figuring things out.  

 

My teen rarely calls either.  Most teens really do not want their parents micromanaging stuff when they're out being independent, so I can't imagine this being a huge problem for most teens.  When he does call/text, it is a case of when I would have needed to find an actual phone to call a parent as a teen.  So I'm not really seeing this at all.  I'm feeling good if I can get my kid to text me at all he's out in the real world.  LOL. 

 

I see a lot of wildly independent teens here out using public transit, self reliant, and organized on their own.  I am still working on these skills with my particular teen, but executive skills have never been his strong suit.  My 11 year old daughter is more organized than my 14 year old son when I think about it.  So it's not a parenting thing.  It's his personality and quirks.

 

[wapiti]

Well, there's the internet.  That's what I use now, and we didn't have that when we were teens.

 

But, I don't really remember figuring out much as a teen until I left for college.  I went to school, had a job, and did dumb things with friends, but that's about it.  I did take one trip to visit colleges in a big city by myself, airplane/taxi/subway, and somehow I figured it out (without a smartphone map, no less).  Off to college at 18, I figured things out on my own.  (If I called my mom to complain about anything, she'd remind me, with some bitterness, that I wanted to go so far away.)

 

My kids don't have much of a clue yet, but my oldest is getting there.  We are taking everyone to NYC in a few weeks - that should be eye opening for the older ones.  I'm not terribly worried about their becoming independent.  One step at a time.

[MEmama]

I can't really think of any serious or potentially serious situations that I had to figure out INSTEAD OF calling my parents. Like a PP mentioned, pay phones were everywhere, and I used them when I was out and about. Nowadays you'd be hard pressed to find a pay phone most places so cell phones are just a replacement for a public convenience that no longer exists.

 

I definitely don't foresee our kids being less "wise" than us! Lol

[Annie G]

One Saturday when middle dd was 17, she came home with her boyfriend of 3 years. They came to where dh and I were and very nervously dd said they needed to talk to us. Then she pushed her boyfriend ahead of her and said, 'You tell them'. He stammered and fumbled and dh and I nearly died because we were pretty sure based on how they were acting that dd was pregnant. 

 

Imagine our surprise when he said he got out of dd's truck (which was really our truck) and slammed the door and broke the window. And that they'd spent a few hours scouring junkyards and found a replacement and installed it themselves. And that he was really sorry...yada yada.    They didn't use their cell phones to call any parents- they figured it out themselves. 

 

Yeah, our kids have a pretty good track record of figuring things out themselves.  

[Pawz4me]

Another thought:  our generation figured stuff out for ourselves because we had to.  We have this experience-based wisdom to pass down to our kids should they call us for help.  Where will our kids find the needed wisdom when their kids call them decades from now?

 

I think I must be missing your point.  Or maybe you don't understand how today's teenagers function (IIRC your kids are younger?).  Just because teens have phones and can contact their parents when the situation warrants doesn't mean they're calling/texting for every little problem.  Plus . . . one gains experience and wisdom with time.  Which is exactly what current teens will do, just as every single generation before them did.

[TechWife]

Apparently nowadays, when things go awry for teens, the assumption is that they will immediately contact their parents, who will receive and act on the message immediately.  Am I right?

 

 

 

No, I don't think you are right. I think teens still only call parents in case of an emergency, just like we did. If anything, kids go farther afield now than they did before because they have access to a phone in case of an emergency. In years past,  you could walk for miles on a country road before coming across a phone. Now, it's much easier for them to have a wider range to roam in their activities. 

 

Typically developing teens want independence. This means they will figure things out for themselves whenever they can. Calling parents for everyday things that go "awry" is not what they want to do. I have never met a teen who had a serious problem, such as a car accident, where they didn't want to talk to their parents, though. That's not just something going awry, though. That's a serious problem where they might want some help and guidance regarding where to get the vehicle towed, how to manage the insurance, etc.. 

[catz]

Another thought:  our generation figured stuff out for ourselves because we had to.  We have this experience-based wisdom to pass down to our kids should they call us for help.  Where will our kids find the needed wisdom when their kids call them decades from now?

 

?  This doesn't make sense to me.  Elders have been handing down information to youth from the beginning of time whether they want it or not via all sorts of means.  My father died this year.  I can still imagine what he'd say or do or give as advice in certain situations.  Kids are gaining wisdom and life experience all the time.  It's not like their brains are in a vacuum and there is only one way to learn and gain information.  I also don't really get the feelings the average kid is missing out on experience based learning.

 

I am not really imagining my kids less prepared for life in their 40's than I am.  Both my kids are certainly more self assured and confident than I was at their age.  I actually think I would have been better off had my parents helped walked me through some situations when I was a kid. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't really understand the question.

 

If my kid called me and needed help, I'd help him.  I'd hope he would do the same for me. 

 

I can't fathom a situation where he'd call me for something stupid if that is what you mean. 

 

 

[Word Nerd]

Calling someone for help, flagging someone down, or asking for help in person have always been legitimate ways to solve a problem. I fail to see how having the ability to call a parent immediately instead of after hiking to a pay phone or getting a ride from someone to a phone is a bad thing.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Thinking back, we may not have had cell phones, but there were plenty of phones around.  Calls on a pay phone cost 10 cents.  You could find them on every street corner where I lived.  So I could always call someone.

 

 

[SKL]

What sparked the question was the cell phone thread, and the number of people saying they need their phone next to them all the time in case they get an emergency call.  And that they can't turn off their text notifications at night because that's how their kids contact them in emergencies.

[SKL]

Maybe my memory is different because I lived rural as a teen, and there were no payphones within walking distance most of the time.  I had to fix my car on the road, or ask strangers for help, a number of times.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well, once when we dropped our oldest off at some program at a uni, we had given him a cell to use and we had one.  This was a very rare time I felt the need because we were far from home in another state with no other contacts but each other.  So long story short we noticed the phone we had was turned off.  Oops.  So we turned it back on.  He had tried to call.  He just called back a bit later.  He asked if we minded that he walked to a place nearby to eat something because he didn't like the food offered at the cafeteria.  Ok..

 

But if he is around here he doesn't carry a phone. 

[TeacherZee]

I work with teens and I've come to the conclusion that is has more to do with family culture and less to do with technology.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well gee and if anything there are far more avenues for solving problems than when I was a kid.  There was no instant search how to do something.

 

It's glorious I tell ya!  I'm a proud graduate of Google University.  LOL

 

 

[Daria]

What sparked the question was the cell phone thread, and the number of people saying they need their phone next to them all the time in case they get an emergency call.  And that they can't turn off their text notifications at night because that's how their kids contact them in emergencies.

 

Did your parents turn off their phone in the night, or did you not have a landline?

 

If my son is gone, then my cell phone is the only phone in the house, so I don't turn off the ringer when I go to sleep, just like my parents never would have turned off the ringer on the house phone when I was out as a teen.  

 

And yes, sometimes my son texts instead of calls, but I don't see why texting with my son when he asks for a curfew extension or lets me know he's sleeping at a friend's house instead of coming home, is so vastly different from having that conversation on the phone, which is what I would have done as a kid.  

[Soror]

 I don't know how it was extrapolated from the phone thread that kids never do anything on their own or parents are waiting at their beck and call. For many people now days turning off the alerts for texts is akin to keeping the phone of the hook or turning off the ringer as they have no other phone. I don't know any parent would purposely do that, now or two generations ago. Being ready for emergencies in no means your helping for everything, but helping in emergencies which can't be foreseen.  I know my parents and my in-laws certainly told us if you need us, call us, anytime. They didn't say, "Tough luck, this is the real world. I'll turn the ringer on in the morning." That is not the type of parent I aspire to be and I find it to be cruel. Personally I don't recall ever needing to call my parents in the middle of the night, luckily, although I remember having car trouble one night, which thankfully my at the time boyfriend was able to fix. I'm glad my kids will be able to have cell phones in case something like that happens, they won't have to worry about being at the mercy of finding a pay phone or being close enough to a house with a phone if something were to happen. Even now as an adult I like having a phone on me, as most people do. Even as an adult there are times I need to call someone else for help, part of being an adult is knowing where to turn for help, not ever needing it.

[Corraleno]

What sparked the question was the cell phone thread, and the number of people saying they need their phone next to them all the time in case they get an emergency call.  And that they can't turn off their text notifications at night because that's how their kids contact them in emergencies.

 

Other than the fact that it's a cell phone now and not a phone plugged into the wall, how is that any different from 50 years ago?  :confused1:  My parents had a phone on the kitchen wall and one on their nightstand, and they never turned them off at night — precisely so they could be contacted in emergencies.

[TechWife]

What sparked the question was the cell phone thread, and the number of people saying they need their phone next to them all the time in case they get an emergency call.  And that they can't turn off their text notifications at night because that's how their kids contact them in emergencies.

 

Well, I have elderly parents and my son will soon be living away at college. I do need to hear my phone if I get an emergency call. I don't turn off my text notifications for the same reason. True emergencies do happen to teens and adults everywhere. Many people do not have land lines anymore, so a cell phone is their only phone. How else are they supposed to get emergency phone calls? 

 

I'm thinking maybe you've never had to meet someone at the emergency room, possibly? Things like that happen to regular people all the time. I have honestly lost count how many times my dad has been in the ER this year.  My own son has been hospitalized and on a ventilator - if he gets sick again, you can bet I need to take that emergency call when it comes through. 

[catz]

What sparked the question was the cell phone thread, and the number of people saying they need their phone next to them all the time in case they get an emergency call.  And that they can't turn off their text notifications at night because that's how their kids contact them in emergencies.

 

Meh - that's not how I really operate with my phone.  Both my kids have phones which is convenient for me.  But they both got them because they do longer term more dedicated activities with sometimes indeterminate end times.  Sometimes we miss each other on the cell phones.  It's an ongoing family joke how SLOW my kids are to get back to me if I text them a question (which is usually something like when are you going to need a ride). 

 

Oh - and I turn off my cell at night.  We have a land line.  I do worry more about the emergency call from a parent.  My husband's parents are elderly.  My dad collapsed unexpectedly and died 4 days later a few months ago.  My grandmother had 2 strokes several years ago and died.  So that's more what I might expect in terms of an emergency call. 

 

[TechWife]

Maybe my memory is different because I lived rural as a teen, and there were no payphones within walking distance most of the time.  I had to fix my car on the road, or ask strangers for help, a number of times.

 

So did I. That doesn't mean it was always safe for me to do so. It's honestly amazing more people don't get hit walking for help on the shoulder of the road in rural areas. I'd rather  my son be able to call for a tow truck, thank you very much! Modern inventions can be wonderful things! 

 

Of course, when your girls get to their teen years, you don't have to give them a cell phone if you'd rather them not have one. It's your choice. 

[SKL]

I'm glad to hear that teens with cell phones are still trying to problem-solve independently despite having the ability to immediately contact their parents.

[myfunnybunch]

I dunno. My ds has started getting around town on his own. My kid uses his new cell phone to text me things like, "Just missed the bus. Next one is in 30 minutes. I'll be late getting home." It is more for my benefit than his.

 

When my kid sister was on a lengthy bus ride home, umpteen years ago, pre-cell phones, the bus broke down. First thing she did was call my mom from a pay phone. She had extra cash to buy a meal, another adult passenger took her under her wing, she got got home just fine. My mom, otoh, freaked out. :D

 

I really like the fact that my kids can contact me in a real emergency. My experience (in general, including leaving them home alone, when they walk the neighborhood, out and about town) so far is that they want to solve what they can on their own.

[Word Nerd]

Maybe my memory is different because I lived rural as a teen, and there were no payphones within walking distance most of the time.  I had to fix my car on the road, or ask strangers for help, a number of times.

 

This kind of sounds like a "when I was a kid, I had to walk uphill both ways through the snow" kind of thing. Why would that be preferable to having easy access to help, whether from a parent, AAA, or 911?

[Night Elf]

I expect to call on my DH when I have a problem. I expect him to be there for me. I can't imagine not being there for my kids in the same way.

[SKL]

This kind of sounds like a "when I was a kid, I had to walk uphill both ways through the snow" kind of thing. Why would that be preferable to having easy access to help, whether from a parent, AAA, or 911?

 

Because of the benefit of the experience of drawing on one's own resources to solve a problem.  A real problem, not a laboratory one.

 

[Dmmetler]

When I was on my very first solo flight home from college, my plane got cancelled. I handled it OK in the airport with the airline personnel, got rebooked for the next morning, went to a hotel,,got checked in (with the help of the pilot who verified that my flight had been cancelled-hotels don't like teenagers checking in by themselves)--and then tried to call home, and panicked because my parents weren't answering. As it turned out, they'd gone up to DC to do some shopping before picking me up at Dulles. But I didn't know that. I ended up calling my next door neighbor back home, mostly, I think, because I wanted an adult. He had me call the airline and leave a message for my parents with them, and gave a bit more fatherly advice.

 

I wish I'd had a cell phone, but this was in the late 1980s.

 

I can also remember a couple of panic attacks when DH was delayed and I couldn't reach him. Again, it would have been nice to have a cell phone.

 

Probably 95+% of the time, my cell phone isn't all that needed or useful-but that 5% is why when DD started going places with me, I bought her one, even at age 10.

[TeacherZee]

Because of the benefit of the experience of drawing on one's own resources to solve a problem.  A real problem, not a laboratory one.

 

 

And using a cell phone to call AAA or 911 or an adult isn't using one's own resources to solve a problem?

[Starr]

Today we can all reach someone to give us support in a difficult moment without looking for a pay phone. But not all real, immediate problems can be solved by calling home. Yes, dd called a lot when she was studying in Europe but when she decided to outrun the creeper she didn't stop to call. I was talking with her the other day about how we had to plan and stick to plans more before cell phones. One couldn't text and say they didn't need a ride any more or will be late or whatever. Communication has changed and with that maybe some on the spot self problem solving.

[Farrar]

I think it's different, but I think it's not so much about the phones. I think parents now want to be called more. If I got stuck somewhere without a ride or ended up in a minor scrape or broke something... my mother did not want me to call her. She would have been ticked off. And that had nothing to do with me having or not having a cell phone. I think now parents expect teens to call for all those things. They expect to know where the kids are all the time.

[AmandaVT]

And not everyone grew up rural and had to walk miles to a payphone. I grew up in a large town/small city and in theory, I could have gotten to any number of payphones or businesses with phones if I needed to call my parents. In reality, I had overprotective parents and until I got my license, I was never really allowed to venture anywhere on my own. Helicopter parents were around in the early 80's, just ask my brother and I. 

[Murphy101]

I guess I don't understand the problem.

 

To me an "emergency" is when you call for help. It's the rational wise thing to do to either avoid the emergency or get out of it ASAP. If I could just do something to magically remove the emergency situation, then I probably wouldn't feel like it was an emergency.

 

I'm 42 and I wouldn't hesitate to use my phone to call for help in an emergency.

 

My grown kids, relatives, friends and so forth can call me anytime, day or night if they feel they are having an emergency and I'm glad to help.

 

Maybe I'm not understanding you. Or maybe you (or I?) don't understand what an emergency is.

[J-rap]

I don't think my kids have taken advantage of their cell phones and called me unnecessarily.  They still try and solve problems on their when they can, or call me when they need to... just as I called my own parents (on a pay phone or school phone, perhaps) when I needed them. 

 

Also, I actually believe having a cell phone has allowed me to give my kids more independence than I otherwise would have been comfortable with them having.  Knowing that they can call me anytime, anywhere, makes me feel more comfortable saying yes to certain situations, whereas otherwise I probably would have said no.

[Word Nerd]

I don't think my kids have taken advantage of their cell phones and called me unnecessarily.  They still try and solve problems on their when they can, or call me when they need to... just as I called my own parents (on a pay phone or school phone, perhaps) when I needed them. 

 

Also, I actually believe having a cell phone has allowed me to give my kids more independence than I otherwise would have been comfortable with them having.  Knowing that they can call me anytime, anywhere, makes me feel more comfortable saying yes to certain situations, whereas otherwise I probably would have said no.

 

I agree, and the bolded has been my experience too.

[Daria]

I find it frustrating when people take one piece of information, or one individuals' experience growing up, and extrapolate about an entire generation of parents.

 

I'm a teacher so I have a experience with lots of parents.  I can assure you that "this generation" parents in a wide variety, just like previous generations.  There are a lot of factors that go into the way a family operates, generation is just one factor.  Resources, family values, the community where they live, and the needs of the other kids are some of the other factors.  

 

If someone met me and spent a little time with me and my son, they could easily conclude that I'm both way overprotective, and neglectful.  But the reality is that I do my best to parent my particular child who has great judgment and problem solving, and also some special needs that require a fair amount of adult monitoring.  So, I let him make the decisions he's ready to make, and do the things he's ready to do, and I help him where he needs help.  

 

When I read posts here, it's clear that other people make decisions that are different from mine.  I assume that's because they have different kids, or live in different communities, not because their parenting is fundamentally flawed.  

[vonfirmath]

I think it's different, but I think it's not so much about the phones. I think parents now want to be called more. If I got stuck somewhere without a ride or ended up in a minor scrape or broke something... my mother did not want me to call her. She would have been ticked off. And that had nothing to do with me having or not having a cell phone. I think now parents expect teens to call for all those things. They expect to know where the kids are all the time.

 

My parents DID want me to call when I got stuck without a ride, ended up in a minor scrape, or broke something. Even without cell phones. They emphasized over and over that I should feel free to call anytime. They would always be there for me.  Even in the middle of the night past the time they had gone to bed.

[Caroline]

I still call my dad sometimes if I have a problem. I'm 45, and I have the best dad in the entire world. And he is smart and resourceful. And I am, too, but sometimes I need my dad. Or my mom, for other things. She's great, too.

[MedicMom]

So I am 33, married, mom of 3, good job....

 

And I still use my cell phone to call my dad when I need help or advice, especially when DH isn't available.

 

I do manage to function pretty well in the adult world, despite that fact.

[Cottonwood]

I think we can think too much about some stuff.  For my household, this qualifies.  My kids have dumb phones just to call if need be.  They aren't completely dependent on it and don't always call me and do figure stuff out on their own.  Bottom line for me is that we can always be in communication if something ...whatever it is...should occur.  I really don't care what they might not be learning by having such access to me.  All I care about is that they can get me if they really need to.  It also gives me peace of mind to be able to call if they are home alone.  There have been a whole lot of other things in their life that has occurred that they have been forced to be self sufficient in so this particular thing isn't on our radar.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Mine don't call. From an early age we've let them work out everything short of bodily harm. I am seen as neglectful by their friends parents though.

[Jenny in Florida]

Does anyone do it differently?  Thoughts?

 

Of course, many people do it differently.

 

My teen does carry a cell phone, both for his comfort and convenience and for our peace of mind. And, in case of a real emergency, we would provide assistance. However, I think there's a wide gulf between "something goes awry" and "emergency."

 

A recent example of "awry" - My son is taking a class two mornings a week at the community college. The class meets from 9:00 - 11:20. For the first few weeks of the session, I was working a temporary full-time job that required me to be at a desk 45 minutes away from the campus from 8:30 to 4:30. For a variety of reasons, my son does not have a driver's license (and we would not have a car for him to use, even if he did). And our city has limited public transportation.

 

So, every Tuesday and Thursday for five weeks, I dropped him on campus at 7:30. He went to class from 9:00 - 11:20, then hopped on a bus that took him downtown, where he transferred to another bus that took him to a large shopping mall, where he would buy himself lunch and then window shop or sit in the food court with his laptop until I could get there to collect him and drive him to the theatre across town where he was rehearsing a show.

 

Before the first Tuesday, we looked at the transit map, and I texted him the instructions for getting from campus to the mall. He made sure he had at least double the bus fare he would need, just in case.

 

However, he apparently got confused and took the wrong bus leaving campus, then used his second bus fare trying unsuccessfully to fix the problem. At that point, he texted and then called me. Even if I hadn't been required to keep my phone turned off except on breaks, all I would have been able/willing to do was to help him brainstorm, anyway, but as it turned out he had already figured out a solution and gotten on his way by the time I got hold of him on the phone.

 

So, even though he has carried a cell phone since he was about seven years old, he somehow managed to appropriately handle a situation that would have thrown some adults for a loop.  In fact, having that cell phone on hand allowed him to look up maps and directions that got him to the right bus and on to his destination.

 

When I went to the job on the first day, I made sure both my son and my husband had the phone number of the main office. If the situation had been an actual emergency, he would have called there and asked them to come get me. As it was, I think a phone call and/or text letting me know things had not gone according to plan was entirely appropriate.