R.I.P. Cell Phone

I’m crying.  I’m crying because I love my phone.  It’s hard for me to say that, it’s embarrassing really, but it’s true.  You see, I never had a fancy phone before.  I didn’t want one.  I always got hand-me-down cell phones when Taylor or Nadia upgraded or when some guy on the street corner threw his away.  That was fine for me.  I didn’t need to have the latest technology.  Give me two cans and some string.

And, then, in September, we changed phone plans and somehow, in the process, I actually got a fancy new phone.  I suspect it was a mistake or oversight of some kind, but, it happened.  I wound up with a new phone.  At the time, I didn’t care.  Honest. Nadia presented me with my new phone and I thought, “Yeah, whatever, it doesn’t matter to me.”

But it’s such a great phone with all kinds of neat features, that I don’t really NEED…but I’ve come to love.  It did start to matter to me.  I started to really like having my fancy phone.  I’m using features that I never used before like texting and mobile updating to the web and making telephone calls. 

(Oh…wait…that’s right…I did make telephone calls before I got my fancy phone.)

You say, “So, what’s the problem?  Why are you crying?”

Today, I was walking in from the car with my arms and hands loaded with bags and cups and books and…my phone.  As I entered the doorway and reached for the counter to set a couple of the items down, the cell phone slipped out of my hand and fell right into a glass of iced tea.

Right into the iced tea!  It was a maneuver that I couldn’t have accomplished if I tried to do it on purpose.  I put the rest of the items down and quickly fished my phone out of the cup.  I slid it open and it did not light up and turn on.

“Oh no.”

We’ve tried to dry the phone out.  We’ve taken the components apart and used a hair dryer.  But to no avail.  Although my hair looks lovely.

I took it to the nearby phone store and the rep told me, “Put the phone in a jar full of rice.”

“Huh?” I said.

“If you put the phone in a jar full of fresh rice, believe it or not, the rice will draw the moisture out of the phone and then we can turn it on long enough to get your data out of the phone.”

“Will the phone work? Can we get it working properly again?” I asked.

“Probably not,” said the rep.

So, here I sit.  A tear in my eye.  My fancy phone is in a jar of rice on the counter. 

By the way, if you see a guy on the street corner throwing his phone away…get it for me, will you?  I could use it.  For now I’m working with two cans and some string.