Living Without a Smartphone: Three Times I Wished I Had One

You can live without a smartphone — or any cell phone at all — in 2026.

With some caveats, of course. And with some adjustments to your habits.

However, here in the overheated summer of 2026, I've had few experiences where I wished I'd had a smartphone. Let's talk through what happened, what I did, and what I would have done differently if I had been carrying.

1. Downtown Stalker

We live downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. We've been here for 3.5 years. Before accepting my current in-office job, I often walked a mile to and from a downtown coworking location.

And never had any issues.

But recently I had to pick up a work-related print job at a downtown business, so decided to walk over and back before heading to my office.

While crossing a street, I made eye contact and nodded at a man crossing the other way. He was clean, shaven, decently dressed, and wore a lanyard with what looked like a conference badge hanging from it.

He didn't trigger any internal radar. Didn't present as unhoused. Or as not being of sound mind.

I continued my walk. In the next block, I noticed him walking behind me. Odd, as he'd been going the other direction.

I turned a corner.

So did he.

I picked up my pace.

So did he.

I crossed the street.

So did he.

Now, while I'm not a muscle-bound gym rat, I am 6'3" and 250 lbs. If I'm walking alone, I have a fast pace and rarely get passed.

I've always assumed I wouldn't make a good target for a would-be street mugger.

But here I was, getting stalked.

I made another turn. He followed.

My destination was coming up, but I didn't want to lead him in there. Across the street was an upscale hotel. I knew they would have security staff in their lobby.

I went through the large sliding hotel doors, went behind a large pillar, and looked back.

He came in and saw me.

I stepped out and confronted him. I demanded to know why he was following me. He babbled something I don't remember. I told him he needed to go away. He said something about waiting outside.

I told him I was going to report him to hotel security, but went up a floor and out a side entrance where I could watch him.

He hung around for a few minutes, then ambled off.

If I had been carrying a phone, I would have taken his photo. And possibly called 911.

But there was hotel security nearby. I didn't feel too vulnerable.

I picked up my print job and headed home, keeping my head on a swivel.

I actually did spot him again - walking a block ahead of me. I changed paths and didn't run into him before getting home.

2. PO'd Driver in Traffic

MsBoyink and I carpool to work - our offices are just a couple miles apart. I drop her off in the morning then pick her up at 5.

I take the same route each time, so I've learned where the bottlenecks happen and which lanes to be in to avoid them.

The other day, halfway to her office, I spotted a guy in my rearview mirror, swerving and honking behind me. No idea where he came from.

I thought maybe I left my gas cap open or something, but no, I caught sight of his face and he wasn't being friendly. He pulled up next to me, put his window down (in 100+ degree sun), started shouting, pointing, etc.

We got to a stoplight at a busy intersection. There were two driving lanes with left turn lanes in every direction. I was in the middle lane, several cars back from the light, and he pulled up behind me.

And got out of his car.

He was an overweight, middle-aged dude in a bright button-up shirt.

He started walking towards my car.

I legit had no idea what his issue with me was. I was actually curious to know, but... there's a specific type of person who gets out of their car, angry, in busy traffic. It's not the type wanting to use Robert's Rules of Order.

I looked around, and saw that the left turn lane was open. I just pulled into it and headed for the stoplight. The left turn light went green right as I rolled up to it. I looked back and saw the guy getting back into his car.

And he didn't follow me.

In this situation, I felt more vulnerable than when confronting my stalker in the hotel lobby. There was no immediate help - no police cars were waiting with the other traffic.

If I'd had a cell phone, I could have called 911, and also started recording the guy in case he got violent (I had no plans to open either my door or window, but wouldn't have been surprised if he started to damage my car).

I am now considering buying front and rear dashcams for a better record in situations like this.

3. Coordinating a Mobile Mechanic

This one is more annoying than potentially dangerous. But I figured I'd include it here because you're always supposed to have three examples, right?

The other day, as I was parking the van to go into work, the shifter broke.

The van was stuck in neutral.

I put the parking brake on and went into the office. After researching possible causes, evaluating the weather, looking at the costs of towing, and realizing all my tools were 10 miles away, decided to hire a mobile mechanic to come fix it.

The issue was directing him to where the van was. Back in my office, I could send him messages describing where the van was. But once I went down to wait by the van, I couldn't communicate with him.

As the appointment time passed and the mechanic didn't show, I had to head back up to my 8th floor office to see if he had called. He had, and was close, but was still in the next lot over. I gave him some landmarks and headed back down, and he shortly rolled up.

A phone would have made it all much easier - I could have just sat in the van and texted back and forth with the mechanic.

Worth Getting a Phone Now?

So after these three situations all happened in the space of a few weeks, am I going to go buy a smartphone now?

Each situation was stressful. But not enough to have me looking at phones again. I may buy dashcams for our vehicles. I pulled out some pepper spray I bought when we first moved to Tulsa but had gotten lazy about carrying.

And just remind myself to stay situationally aware, head on a swivel, and ready to adapt if something comes up again.