In our efficient modern world

There's a new world coming and it's not the promised land. Although it really isn't a surprise either.

We are under an order to shelter in place which means staying home unless it is absolutely necessary.

Last fall my 6 year old iPhone's battery died and I replaced it with a used one they thought would last about a year. Today, out of nowhere it decided to die, which meant I had no phone.

I never dreamed of this happening. I didn't even know if the phone stores were open, but when I went on line I called the one I go to and got all kinds of recorded messages about bill pay, etc. Then they said if you wanted to make an appointment you could do that. So I went through all the steps and was assigned to go in at 12:30.

I arrived and there was a sign on the door that if you were there for curbside service to stay in your car and call (It was the same number I called with all the automated messages, including the one that assigned my appointment.) I went up and opened the door and three people at the back of the store leaped up saying. "You need to leave now and go back to your car."

"But I have an appointment I said, standing right inside the door.

'"We are not taking appointments. Why are you here?"

"My phone died and I need a new one."

"Wait in the car while I call my manager and see what he says."

I left and sat in my car. There was another car parked right next to me. Waiting too. About ten minutes later someone brought that car a sack and they left. Another car pulled in and the passenger got out and went into the store, to probably the same reception I had received. He came back out and got in his car.

Now an employee wearing one black glove came out and asked to see my Driver's License. She scanned it and said she would call me in a few minutes. About ten minutes later she called and we began the long laborious process of buying a phone I couldn't see and could only explain what I needed. She was hard to hear and hard to understand. I am sure she needed as much patience as I did to get through that. We repeated and repeated and repeated answers and questions and finally I knew I was buying a red iPhone for $20 a month via my monthly bill. We eventually decided I was also buying a black otter box to hide my red iPhone of some undetermined style then her phone cut out.

I sat there wondering where we were in this strange process for another ten minutes when she came out to show me the free accessory I got, was black okay? It was a braided charging cord. I have several, but I took the free one because she said I'd be silly not to. She scanned my credit card and went back in. Ten minutes later she came out with a sack and my phone in her hand. She showed me how to open it, but since I didn't know my apple password she couldn't download the Apple tech application I needed to set it up. She said she made an appointment for me and they would call, but be sure I downloaded that app first. The sad truth is that because of the way the parking spaces are, there were two employees and two customers in cars all standing on top of each other in the front lot.

I went home, uploaded the app, then waited. The phone call finally came and I answered, but all that was there was a ringing, as if no one had picked up on the other end. I listened to that for nearly ten minutes before hanging up.

I tried setting up my phone without them, but it was going to be a laborious process to put in all my contact information. Then I got a text saying did I want an appointment to set up my new phone. I said yes and they said they would call at 3:50.

This time it worked,. Finally. In the end. My new phone was supposedly set up about 4:30, only there was no sound when anyone called or texted. I could hear ring tones on the phone. I looked for the mute button, but it didn't seem to be where my old one was, so I began another long drawn out process of calling my daughter and having her text or call me back to see if there was any ring tone. There was not. I could answer texts and calls, but only if I saw my phone light up.

Her boyfriend finally helped me find the mute button, which was on and almost impossible to see in this otterbox.

I have a working phone! But I still could not access Facebook on Microsoft Edge because when Facebook gave me the new Facebook, mine quit responding. It is almost midnight and I finally fixed that about thirty minutes ago. Which is nice because I began that process yesterday!

(Just for the record, I did try to buy a phone online before I went through all this.)