Too cute

I received him in an e-mail today. I think I'll keep him!

My daughter broke (busted) her cell phone on Sunday. We went today to try to get a replacement. I have insurance on both of our phones. We went to the mall to visit the store that represented our brand of cell phone. My daughter was six weeks away from being able to get another (new) phone for the sale price with a 2 year contract. Hmmm. Today's price $399.00. Price on May 5th: $39.99. For a fifteen-year-old (two weeks away from 16), six weeks can be a lifetime to wait. What would she do without a phone?

I told her she could use mine in the evenings. She said "Then how will I call YOU when you aren't home?" Wow. How dependent we have become on being able to speak with each other any minute of the day (minus movies, during class, appointments and meetings of course).

I replied, "We will have to go back to the old days." And then I thought about that. Could I go back? With a cell phone, I can reach her at any time. When it is 11:15 p.m. on a Saturday night, I am out of town and she calls to say that she is home, and I can breathe again. When I realize that I didn't even know I had been holding my breath. Just in that one instant all is well again.

Or, when she is at a friend's house and the parent drives them somewhere and she is not feeling well. The friend's family does not want to leave. She calls me. I say, "I'll be right there to pick you up." Yup. That was easy.

We thought about a TracPhone. By the time we researched them I realized it just wasn't feasible. Nor would we be certain that we could get any service in our area. She was beginning to get depressed. As teenagers will when things don't go their way.

We bought donuts and brownies. Comfort food. Driving home from the mall and Wal-Mart I passed our cell phone store. I said "Let's try this one. One more time. Even with insurance at least we could get the similar phone to the one she broke and that would get us through until May 5th. " She didn't want the same phone that she had before and that is all the insurance will do for you. Give you a refurbished phone.

We waited. They were busy. Finally a sales rep came over. A very nice lady in plum purple. We told her our story. She pulled up my account. She said "Wait just a minute" and she disappeared into the back room to make a phone call. I made the remark to my daughter that I had been a customer for a number of years and they should at least be able to do something. She came out and said that she had authority to waive the 6 weeks. My daughter could get the phone of her choice for the sale price today. She said the reason was that I had been a model customer for a number of years. My daughter and I shared a knowing smile.

Wow. I think Miss Plum made a friend for life. My daughter was beaming. She chose her phone and as of this post she is picking her ring tone, typing in all her contacts (her other phone was so broken, they couldn't retrieve her contact list to transfer it) and calling her beau to tell him about her latest toy.

Ahh. All is well in the Peruby household. Until it dawned on me that when this two year contract is up my daughter will be 10 days away from her 18th birthday. Now, where ARE those brownies!?