What's the longest you've been without your Internet connection?

Eight hours? One day? Two days? A week?

Me? Thanks to an small altercation with BT, I went without email, web, newsgroups, Napster and XXX Live Teens for four weeks.

Four whole stretched-out goddamn weeks.

Hah! If you think the Internet isn't addictive, just try going without it.

Withdrawal symptoms: cold sweats, restlessness, sense of 'missing something', strange dreams…

< I had this weird one where I was at a party and everyone could talk except me. I tried to speak but nothing came out. Then this huge penis shaped thing with Billie Piper on it crashed through the roof and...well, never mind >

…irritability, insomnia.

I'd turn up at friends' houses late at night, like a poor friend trying to borrow money. "Oh I was just in the area…um, do you mind if I use your computer?"

I'd find myself checking in to cyber-cafes. Have you ever been to one? They're like soup-kitchens for the electronically homeless. Nobody catches your eye. Everyone types their passwords really quickly, furtively.

And do you know what living out of a Hotmail account does to you? It crushes you. It flattens your self-esteem.

Finally, I settled my debt and got my Internet back. I wasn't quite prepared for the effect it had on my mood. The clouds lifted. I danced. I laughed. I cried.

I even asked the gruff Scottish BT lady who reconnected my phone line for her number. ("151" she pithily replied).

I have learnt a valuable lesson through this experience. The Internet is a joyous thing. Don't ever take it for granted.

by DavidM

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seethru talk: are you an internet addict? »