Students arose in the morning to find something was missing. Not just an ordinary thing like a backpack or a textbook, but something that connected the students with the rest of the world.
Cell phones disappeared. Not just one, but all of them.
Inexplicably, the technological babies of our generation - cell phones - went missing.
At first, there was no communication because of it.
Most were late to school, some stayed at home due to the shock, and others hopelessly searched for their phones for hours on end.
The students who made it to class sensed confusion amidst the rest of the student body.
Some students cried because they couldn't get their Chocolate fix for the day. Other students felt alone without their Sidekicks. Even the professors could Alltel something was amiss.
Class began with silence. Not even the sound of texting buttons could be heard. Without their cell phones to distract them, the students were paying attention to the lectures.
Instead of playing games on their cell phones, students engaged in academic discussions. Healthy debate ensued and seminars went off without a hitch.
Poor recordings of popular hip-hop songs didn't interrupt professors. Vibrations never shook the bags of the students. The only digging in backpacks was for pencils.
Despite an initial utter confusion, mostly everyone settled in. The absence of the cell phones in class hadn't been a hindrance. It had been a blessing.
The best type of cell phone etiquette struck campus: No phone at all.
Still, some students expressed anger.
One student said she needed her cell phone to call work, to talk to her family and to get ahold of her friends.
The student also said that her cell phone had never been a disruption in class because she used it very discretely. She said that her professors could never tell she was using it, forgetting her phone use may have disrupted other students in the process.
Another student said the loss of cell phones meant students were encouraged to congregate with each other more on a personal level.
The student said she felt like she had to talk to the people around her because she was without her cell phone to keep her company.
At the end of the day, many students said the loss of cell phones created an improvement in campus atmosphere.
Walks down the malls of campus changed instantly, students said. People looked each other in the eye and smiled, as if to say hello.
Some exchanges included a greeting, despite the two people never having met.
A vibrant campus overran with interpersonal relations where an exchange of ideas ensued like never seen before.
Students talked about real- world issues in mass congregation because none of them could call for rides home. A dialogue continued into the night with discussions of politics, sociology and philosophy.
No one was ever interrupted by a cell phone.
Eventually, the students made their way back to their homes, and most even forgot that they had been without their phone for a day.
The students reflected on the day before heading to bed. It had been nice to be without their cell phones. They weren't really necessary in an academic environment.
Then the students fell asleep.
They woke up the next morning to find their phones returned. The students picked up their phones, questioned whether or not to bring them to class, and then slipped the phones in their pockets.
The distraction was back.
Ty Thompson is a journalism senior with a carbon-fiber plated Sony cell phone. Call him at - just kidding - swap tall tales with him at: tyler.w.thompson@asu.edu.