People living in the moment

I stepped out of my apartment and onto my balcony, holding my phone up to the sky.

"Accept my offering!" I cried.

No signal. My phone still did not work. Weird. Okay. No biggie. Mrs. Bowman beneath me also came out onto her balcony. She held her phone to the sky. Little Hayden, age 7 months, rested against her hip.

"Huh." She said.

"Yours too?" I asked.

She looked up at me, confused as to why I even was there. "Why isn't my phone working?"

"Beats me."

She huffed, "I was trying to see if it's okay to give him peanut butter yet."

"Oh yeah. The earlier you introduce allergen foods, the better." I advised. I knew. I worked with children for a living.

"No!" We both saw Sarah across the street, standing out on her balcony with her phone up to the sky. "You need to wait until your pediatrician tells you it's okay!"

Millie was walking down the street, holding her phone to the sky, when she chimed in. "No, if he's starting to eat solids, then he's got to try them now. Unless he is still exclusively breastfeeding." She narrowed her eyes at Mrs. Bowman. "He is still breastfeeding, correct? You didn't give him poisonous formula, did you?"

Kraig from next door came out on his balcony. He looked at me. He had a weird knick-knack in his hand. Holding it up, "Hey, wanna buy this? I was trying to list it, but my phone isn't working."

"Uhhhhh, not really. Besides, I don't have any cash."

Kraig smiled, "You can send me the money! I have several apps..."

But I rudely interrupted. "I can't. Phone doesn't work."

Now a car pulled over. A man stepped out; he was wearing something fancy, and he looked around at the neighborhood full of people standing out on their balconies. This seemed to please him.

"Hey! Do any of you know the way to Fifth Street? I have a meeting I can't be late for."

Mrs. Bowman pointed to the left. "You go that way for three blocks, turn on Green, pass the school, and then it'll connect you to County C. That'll take you near downtown, and you'll find the street there."

Millie shook her head. "If you want to avoid turning your car around, continue straight instead and turn onto Fish Avenue. That'll still connect you to County C."

Kraig held up his weird object. "Do you want to buy this, sir?"

The man shook his head, "No, thank you." but he still looked confused. "So basically I'm just one street over from where I actually need to be."

Mrs. Bowman called back down to the man. "What do you think? Should I give him peanut butter?"

He looked up at her and saw the child on her hip. "Only if he asks, I would think."

I snarked at her, feeling we are pass this question. "Just give him peanut butter. No one cares."

She looked down at her phone. "Oh. I don't have any. That's right. I was going to order some." Her eyes met the man again as he attempted to get back in his car. "Hey, can you get some peanut butter for me?"

He closed the door and drove off.

"Ugh. Rude."

Millie continued her walk, still holding her phone to the sky, before her eyes widened. "Wait, did he say Fifth Street? Or Swift Street?"

Sarah chimed in, "Swift street."

Millie sighed, "Oh, thank goodness! Because if it was Fifth, we sent him the wrong direction."

"So, no one wants to buy this?" Kraig yelled out so all could hear.

"What even is it?" Mrs. Bowman asked.

"A thing I want to sell." He answered in an oh-so-matter-of-fact way.

Sarah shook her head. "It wouldn't match anything I have."

Now Jackie, the college student, came out onto his balcony on the other side of mine. He held his phone up. "I was playing a game. It gave me real money. It would be a bummer if I lost the match."

"You play gambling games?" I asked, rather curious how legal that was on a phone.

His eyes darted to me as if I spoke Millie's poisonous formula from my own lips. "You don't?? That would be pretty stupid if you're not trying to side hustle. In this economy, you need to be making money. I day trade and own several cryptocurrencies."

"I'd ask to see, but looks like we all hit a weird blackout. Our phones don't work." I wave my phone at him.

He nodded his head, as if understanding all. "Ah. That makes sense. The elite want us small people to stay down. This is my fault, everyone. They knew I was bypassing them and gaining riches. They had to shut down our phones to stop me."

Mrs. Bowman now huffed with impatience. "So can you get me peanut butter? If this is your fault, you owe me."

Jackie shook his head. "I must escape this matrix. Forgive me, everyone."

He ducked back into his apartment.

Kraig put the object down. "I guess he wouldn't have wanted to buy it either."

Sarah called out from her side of the street. "Kraig, I want to buy it just to smash it in front of you."

"That's a bit much, Sarah," Millie advised. "I'm sure whatever happened, the police will fix it."

Now Harriet, who lived next door to Sarah, came out onto her balcony. "I saw you guys meeting, but when I went to check my phone about it, it didn't turn on."

"Why would you need to check your phone about us being outside?" Sarah asked.

"The community group usually posts when the neighbors have events. Did we get this approved by the committee?"

"No," I told her. But I knew I was wrong to do so.

Because now came the lecture.

"You know that if we are to meet, we must get permission from the neighborhood committee! Rules are there to keep our neighborhood looking high class!"

High class. These apartments were some of the cheapest in the city. Which rent still ate over half my monthly take home pay, but still. Whatever. Harriet will be Harriet.

"You go ahead and report us, Harriet." Sarah nodded as if to dare the old woman.

"I will!" She pulled out her phone. Then paused. "Oh. That's right. Well, I will when it comes back on!"

And it did. All of our phones buzzed back to life.

Millie continued walking until she turned off the street onto another one. Mrs. Bowman ordered her peanut butter. Kraig listed his weird object. Sarah and Harriet went back inside.

And I sat down on my balcony and watched the sun set.