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My girlfriend challenged me to not touch my phone for 24 hours. She said it on a Saturday morning. We were in the kitchen. She was making pancakes. I was on my phone, scrolling. Girlfriend: Put your phone down. Me: One second, I'm just checking something. Girlfriend: You've been saying "one second" for 30 minutes. Me: Sorry baby, what did you say? Girlfriend: I said, I have a challenge for you. No phone. No Instagram. No WhatsApp. No football. No YouTube. Just me. For 24 hours. Can you do it? I laughed. Me: That's easy. Why would you even challenge me? Girlfriend: Let's see if it's easy. Me: Okay, I accept. 24 hours, no phone. Starting now. Girlfriend: Starting now. Give me your phone. Me: What? Give you my phone? Girlfriend: Yes. If it's in your pocket, you will cheat. Give it to me. I will keep it. I gave her my phone. She put it in a drawer and locked it. Me: You are serious about this. Girlfriend: Very serious. The first 2 hours were fine. We cooked together. We laughed. We ate pancakes. It actually felt good. Like old times. Like when we first started dating and we didn't have smartphones. Me: See? This is easy. I don't even miss it. Girlfriend: Wait until hour 6. By hour 4, I started feeling it. My hand kept going to my pocket. Empty pocket. I kept feeling like my phone was vibrating, but it wasn't there. Me: Baby, can I just check one message? My boss might have texted about Monday. Girlfriend: No. You said 24 hours. Prove you can be present with me. Me: Okay, okay. I'm present. I'm here. By hour 6, I was itching. We were watching a movie. I kept looking at the drawer where she locked my phone. Me: This is hard. I didn't know it would be this hard. Girlfriend: You see? You are addicted. Me: I'm not addicted. I'm just... used to it. Girlfriend: Same thing. By hour 8, we were eating dinner. She was telling me about her day at work. About her coworker who annoyed her. About her boss. I was nodding. But my eyes kept drifting to the TV. To the window. To anywhere but her. Girlfriend: Are you even listening to me? Me: Yes, yes. Your coworker... she did something... annoying. Girlfriend: What did she do? Me: Uhm... she... I forgot. She put her fork down. Girlfriend: You weren't listening. Me: I was listening. I was just... thinking about something else. Girlfriend: You are always thinking about something else. Even without your phone, you are not here. I got defensive. Me: Baby, why are you doing this? This is stupid. Why are you punishing me? You know I need my phone for work. You know I have responsibilities. Girlfriend: You need your phone for work. But do you need it at dinner? Do you need it when I'm telling you about my day? Do you need it when we're in bed? I went quiet. Me: What are you trying to say? She started crying. Quiet tears. Not loud. Just tears falling into her food.