A phone tale

Both Maddie and Charlie have been using the oldest cell phones we have because they have broken their original phones; then broken the second rate phones they replaced those with, and then were using ones that wouldn't even stay on long enough to place a call. Peter had also ruined his phone months ago and was also using a vintage model.

But we were plum out of old phones, and Charlie was chomping at the bit to find out when we could get new ones. There is a new Verizon store that opened in town, and he went in to find out if we were eligible for upgrades.

And so we were.

Now, I told about all those people, but me? My phone was fine. It was still holding a charge for at least a week without plugging it in; it worked like a charm and I liked it. (But alas, you notice I am speaking in the past tense, because yes, I traded in a dependable model for a new one.)

Thank heavens we don't treat family members like we do cell phones! Yeah, this husband has been faithful, kind and does his job, but I want a new one. You know, just because I do.

My old phone is an Envy ... three? Seriously, I am not all hip on names, but I got it two years ago and I have loved it. And I assumed that I would get the new version of the Envy for all of those reasons. But when I was looking at it on the wall, I realized not only was it the very same color, but other than the front screen being a teeny bit larger, it was exactly the same. What was the point of getting exactly the same thing?

(The thought of NOT getting a phone never occurred to me because I have been on the other side of happy with my phone and it was hell getting to the date where I could get a new one. So ... since I had to sit through the long process of renewing a contract, I was only doing it once. The old phone is stored away and I am sure someone in this family will be using it one day. Hopefully later than sooner.)

But what to get? I really didn't care about having Internet, but the ones I was interested in all required a monthly service plan. I debated for a bit to just go with the not-so-fun phones they have without it, but no. I was completely swept up in the "gotta have a really cool phone just like everyone else does" in no time. Hallie wants the Droid, and I checked that out -- but it's expensive and while she says she wants a "fun phone," I really don't care. That is until I got a fun phone!

Charlie and I both went with the above, which is a Samsung Reality. (Who comes up with these names? The same people who name crayons?) It has a touch screen and I really, really, really like that. It makes answering calls so easy, and has all these features (such as when the phone rings, it has options like ANSWER, ANSWER AND SEND TEXT THAT YOU WILL GET BACK TO THEM (that seems long, must be something shorter!) and QUIET and well, a whole list. And all I have to do is touch one quickly and the phone stops ringing. Love it!

And the stupid Internet thing ... oh no, I don't need it. When the guy handed us all our phones, we entered the phone zone within seconds. He laughed and said "I guess you're all happy with your phones I see!" All of us were completely engaged at staring at the little screens and seeing what we could do with them.

So silly.

And of course for the next hour or so we paid no attention to the beautiful sunny day sitting on the dock, but instead played with our phones and set up wallpaper, ring tones, settings and so on. Like I said, so silly! I still don't know why I have three screens, something about widgets, but I lost interest after hours of playing. And seriously, my eyes are kaflooey from reading emails out of my palm. I do NOT need to read anything that badly where I can't wait to get to my enormous screen and read the words without squinting!

With that all said, I am human and enjoy a new toy as much as the next person! But we were on the dock the next day, and Peter put his phone on the bench in front of him. As we all stood up to leave, we heard this unGAWDLY shriek come out of his mouth, and the next thing you know he is stripping his clothes off. Yes, stripping them off! He got down to his undies and jumped in the water.

Oh no, I said to the kids, did he drop his phone in the water?

Sure enough, he did.

You know, he lectures us all on how we need to take care of our phones, and he's not going to replace ANY of them, blah blah blah blah blah. And the second day his goes into the drink?

But here's the other thing. He got the phone called "The Rock," which is water proof and supposedly so rugged you can drive over it with a truck. Well, he's tested the waterproof thing -- and it never stopped working.

I'll let you know what happens after he drives over it with his truck!