For some reason I went a bit crazy cleaning the kitchen this morning. I started with the stovetop and proceeded to the granite and then the kitchen sink. This then led to a mopping of the kitchen floor. That’s what happens when I start cleaning, something I usually postpone. Once I get started, one thing leads to the next, and I find myself cleaning like the energizer bunny, only without the drum.
Well, this morning I was on a roll, and if I’d had a drum I would have beaten it. By the time I had to leave for work, the kitchen looked pretty darn good! I was pleased. I picked up my cell phone, which had been sitting safely on the kitchen table so it wouldn’t get wet, and checked for messages. I found that an email had come through and so I tried to scroll to it with my Blackberry…the pain in the neck button wouldn’t respond. I thought maybe my hands were damp, so I dried them again on a towel and returned to the Blackberry. It still wouldn’t respond. Getting anxious, I put the phone down for a minute just to let it chill out. Maybe it was angry with me for cleaning and not paying attention to it all morning. After about 30 seconds, which was all I could wait, I picked it up and magically, the ridiculously inconsistent button worked! Thinking the whole thing was a fluke, I answered the email, grabbed my pocketbook and headed out for the store.
My daughter and I were both working today, although she was due in the store a few hours before me. I love when we work together. Anyway, once I arrived in the store, I put my phone in my back pocket, as always, and proceeded to assist the customers.
The Manager left for the day and I was in charge. After she left she realized she had something to tell me, so she sent a text. My phone rang, as it should. I took it out of my back pocket and tried to scroll over to open the text. The (expletive removed) button would not respond. I truly believed I was doing something stupid or had somehow messed the phone up during my cleaning rampage. My daughter is my electronics guru and I thought for certain she would be able to get it to work for me. She always does! When I realized even she couldn’t get that stupid track thing to move, I could feel myself getting shaky; my brain flying off in a thousand directions! How will I be contacted if someone needs me? How will I contact people if I need them? What will they think if they can’t reach me? How do I notify everyone that I am out of touch?
It was then that my Blackberry started doing extremely odd things. The screen turned white, then it came back. An icon appeared in the corner that was never there before. It was as if it was possessed!! This was already a replacement Blackberry for one that only lasted 6 months…. now, 10 months later…more problems! I took the battery out, put it back, THREE times! My daughter rebooted the phone, TWICE! Nothing worked!
There is a Radio Shack store in the same strip center where I work and luckily one of the nice men who work there came in to buy a soda just after our second reboot! I showed him my phone and saw the pity flash in his eyes. The phone was gone, he told me. It was time to say good-bye.
My daughter sent a text to my husband and my son to tell them my phone was dead and that if they needed me, to call her. I felt so completely cut off from society! No Facebook, no email, no texts!! I am so dependent on being in touch at all times! This was simply intolerable! It’s amazing how dependent I’ve become on this undependable device!!
Luckily, my husband was off from work today – funny how that happens, when I need him – he’s there. He offered to take my phone to the Verizon store and see if there was something that could be done today. Before coming by, he charged an older Blackberry that we had in the house, a brilliant move as it turned out!! He stopped by my store and picked up my phone. I felt so lost, even having the dead Blackberry in my pocket made me felt better than having no phone at all!!
After my husband arrived at the Verizon store, he called my daughter’s phone to tell us my phone was definitely gone, there was simply nothing that could be done to save it. My options were, since it was still under warranty, to get a replacement phone for no cost, which they conveniently did not have in stock, buy the next model up, which would cost an extra $250, or switch to an iPhone. However, the iPhone in stock was not the new model coming out this Friday and not the lowest model, which they were out of, but another model which would cost me $150 out of pocket and an additional $15 a month for a more complete data plan.
Being that I am not working where I earn what I used to earn, the thought of spending so much more right this minute was not appealing. So, luckily, with my daughter’s old Blackberry fully charged and in hand, they switched my service to that phone and will mail me a replacement phone – of the same crappy caliber that my previous two phones have been. I should have my new crappy but necessary phone in a few days.
Really, Blackberry…you don’t have to freak out just because I was cleaning!! And, to everyone out there – call me. My buttons may now be old, but they’re working!! (For now.)
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