In the interest of full disclosure, and as a longtime and (hopefully) trusted news provider in the community, I feel I should reveal something deeply personal about myself that others may find troubling. 

Some of you may view it as a less-than-flattering personality trait that eventually can be forgiven and overlooked. Others may see it as a severe character flaw that you cannot move past. And that’s fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. While I do hope the latter is not the case for most of you, if that’s how things shake out, well, it’s been a hell of a ride.

 I’ll just rip off the Band Aid and let the chips fall where they may: I don’t have an iPhone. Never have. 

There, I said it. I have been a proud Android user (typically Samsung Galaxies) since approximately 1999, when I got my very first cell phone, the slim, flip-open sort. From there, as technology advanced, so did my and everyone’s phones. The rise of text messages brought about new technology, and we no longer had to press the 2 key three times to type the letter C. That’s when  I graduated to my all-time favorite  phone that had a slide-out keyboard. It was a gem. It belongs in a scrapbook, or time capsule. This was all before iPhones even existed. Blackberries were still the be-all-and-end-all for plenty of people.  

Eventually, everyone’s phone smartened up. Ah, the touchscreens, the internet, the wifi, the cameras, the email and the APPS, oh the apps. (“There’s an app for that.”)

And that’s where the line was drawn in the sand, when iPhones started to suck Americans into the cultish clique of the lowercase i.

But I will type, swipe, shoot and surf in shame no more. There’s a prejudice infecting our nation by the “mean girls” (and guys) who look down with derision on any Android-loving Americans. And yes, it is only Americans, as the Android operating system still accounts for 87% of the global market share.

How can iPhone users who have never used another phone know with such blind certainty that their phone is better than any other? That’s like deciding English is superior to French without ever having learned French.

I’ve never claimed the Android operating system is better than iOS. But it’s what I know. It’s all I know. 

And I’ve survived this long without having that little green dot next to my name in your iPhones. I’ve survived just fine outside of your little i clique. And I’m doing just fine, thank you.

Judge me if you must, but I’m free to love whatever phone I choose. So back off, you cliquish iHoles.

Mandy Miles drops stuff, breaks things and falls down more than any adult should. An award-winning writer, reporter and columnist, she's been stringing words together in Key West since 1998. "Local news is crucial," she says. "It informs and connects a community. It prompts conversation. It gets people involved, holds people accountable. The Keys Weekly takes its responsibility seriously. Our owners are raising families in Key West & Marathon. Our writers live in the communities we cover - Key West, Marathon & the Upper Keys. We respect our readers. We question our leaders. We believe in the Florida Keys community. And we like to have a good time." Mandy's married to a saintly — and handy — fishing captain, and can't imagine living anywhere else.