My life without a smartphone is getting harder and harder | Jen Wasserstein

I'm determined to hold out for as long as I can, but these days you need a QR code for everything from ordering at a restaurant to boarding a flight

I've always gotten by fine without owning a smartphone - until now. Covid has made my already obsolete 90s-designed Nokia flip-phone nearly useless. I'm suddenly surrounded by QR codes. There are now Airbnb doors I can't open, cars I can't start, menus I can't read. Paper menus have vanished; ordering food has become an ordeal.

At a recent dinner with friends, after some initial chatting, everyone stared at menus on their phones. I sat there for a minute looking around the table and then whispered to my neighbor, discreetly asking to look on. When I eat out alone, I show my flip-phone to the waiter and ask for a proper menu. After an eye-roll, they'll either bring out a paper menu from some vault in the back or hand me their own phone to use.