A new cell phone

Often my husband and I are very quiet together because he alternately plays solitaire and poker on his iPhone and I also love to play games. Our cell phones keep us quiet together. 

Okay! I’ve adjusted to the fact that I have lost my iPhone for good. I loved playing Solitaire and all sorts of word games on it in the car when stuck in traffic or on one of those interminable waits at the doctor. Often my husband and I are very quiet together because he alternately plays Solitaire and Poker on his iPhone while I don’t play for stakes but also love to play games. Our cell phones keep us quiet together. 

Since I stupidly gave my phone away and failed at every effort to get it back, I decided to visit Smart and checked out their iPhones. I could get one for roughly the amount I now pay monthly. It was not the top iPhone but it was good enough for me. I showed it to my husband. He agreed but I didn’t want to buy it just yet. I wanted to think about it more. Finally I decided to straighten out my cell phone programs, which are a bit complicated. At some point in my life when my beloved bright red Nokia phone’s battery was dying and Nokia had decided to get out of the business I decided to buy a new cheap phone. I think I signed up for the cheapest program. 

That was around the time my car and driver were part of Uber. When their phone system conked out, we had to buy another program for my driver to use. I bought a more expensive phone for that use. But after a while we got out of Uber so we had two phones. We exchanged. I got the better phone. Then when I was about to get married I got my iPhone to sort of match my husband’s and moved my SIM card into my new phone, but the two programs were still on. 

When I went to buy my iPhone, I found out that I had to put a down payment of around P13,000. But when the salesman checked on my two other programs, he regretfully told me that I could not buy anything because I still had two programs running. I could only cancel out without paying anything three months before the program ended. One would expire this August. Two months from now, in May, I could give notice and the program would be cancelled without payment. But the more expensive one was good until August 2020 and I would have to pay P5,000 to cancel it now. In short, I could not buy any cell phones from them unless I paid the P5,000 plus the over P10,000 that would be required to buy the iPhone plus the high monthly amortization.

“But you blocked my stolen phone and reissued me the number. Here is my new SIM. If I cannot buy a new phone from you, can I still pop this SIM card into another phone. A Huawei, for example, “I suggested. 

“Yes, you can,” the salesman said. 

“No problems?” I asked. 

“None, ma’am,” he reassured.

So I went marching off to the Huawei store, which was just a few steps away. I like this brand for various reasons. First, because the US had the owner arrested and detained because her phone was good and they did not like the competition. Immediately that got my attention. Second, when we went to Bohol recently, my stepson took a beautiful photo of my husband and me and his sister posted it on Facebook. According to my husband it went “viral.” I found out his son’s phone was a Huawei. When I walked into the new Huawei store, I saw that their cameras were made closely with Leica, an outstanding brand of cameras in the days before digital. Apparently Leica’s technology has caught up.

 Now I have a stunning new cell phone with two numbers — one Smart and the other Globe. The Smart number is my old one (0998-991-2287) and there’s a Globe number too, provided for free. It has its own PowerPak, its own ring that is pasted in the middle of the back, and its own handle for Selfies all for a quarter of the cost of the iPhone.

 The downside is I still have not learned to use it well. But give me time. After all, I am 74, not your smart little boy who knows exactly what to do with an android. Until I do you can text me either on my old number 0998-991-2287 or on my transition number 0945-528-1468. We will all be happy together again!

But the story isn’t over. I just computed the cost of terminating my one account that will expire in August against if I keep it going. Five thousand is much less. So I will cancel it as soon as I use up its load.

See? All’s well that ends well. Never mind that the God and the saints in heaven didn’t answer my prayers. I am grateful for my Huawei.