An Ode to the Motorola L6

Up until last year, my mobile phone was the precursor of the sleek, thin phones that became so fashionable that even the iPhone's design is a testament to just how chic my phone was back in the day.

The unit I speak of is the Motorola L6, a simple phone with nice functions that was enough to keep me happy since I didn't really use it for anything else aside from texting, phone calls, and as a calendar. I lived without a watch for a pretty long time thanks to my trusty L6, and I could connect my phone to the computer and send and receive text messages without having to let go of the keyboard.

I know, I know, that last line reeks of nerd. Sue me. But the fact still remains that after I lost that phone, I had to replace it with a Nokia unit whose proper name escapes me to this day. I now attach my mobile phone to my person at all times, ensuring that people like Obbie will have a hard time reading my messages surreptitiously, and that it will no longer accidentally slip out of my big-ass pockets without my knowledge.

But I sometimes regret not doing that with my old mobile phone. I mean, how difficult was it to connect an ID lace to the L6 and tie it to my belthooks? Man, they say regret always comes in the end and this is me saying yes indeedy.

So now I come to a quandary. I am earning enough to buy myself a new phone, and knowing my friends, they will have plenty of things to say about what model I should get, et cetera. Knowing Nina, if I get a phone that she doesn't like, I will never hear the end of it and will probably have to cower in a hole for the rest of my life in shame. But the thing is, I don't know if I want to get a new phone; I no longer keep track of the newer models, and frankly speaking, if the phone I get departs way too much from the design of the L6, I will cry and probably cut of one of my fingers in remorse.

But the only other mobile phone worth my while is the iPhone, it seems to me. And that unit's hella expensive. I know how I can get one for cheap, but it still entails suffering the monetary consequences for months on end after. Thus my hand is reluctant to pull out my card and grab myself another phone. I mean, that's a LOT of money. And I'm still paying for my bass, among other things.

But if I get myself another L6 or an L7 even, I'll have to face two things:

• ridicule from one person due to my backwards lax view on what's hot and not in the face of new technology
• the fact that it's hard to find a store that sells a brand-new L-series unit.

Yet again another quandary.

Of course I could stay with my klunker of a phone that was handed down to me by my brother, and let that be the end of all debates, but knowing me, that just won't happen. Firstly, I hate the color. Orange and white does not sit well with me. And secondly, well. It just isn't my phone. So no matter how much I tell myself that I'll be okay with it, I know that sooner or later, I'll find myself drawn to the malls, looking at the various displays of mobile phones on stores like Semicon and Games and Gadgets.

And I'll feel an L6-shaped hole in my pocket. And begin to think.