"Toni, she's on the move!"
"I'm on it boss and tracking her," replied Toni. "She's stopped in at the AT&T store. It will depend on her decision there. I'm powerless at the moment."
"Keep me posted," replied Toni’s boss.
Thinking back, Jacquie had wondered what it would be like to have his young energy in the house. She was not sure she had wanted him to come along with the rest of the family for Thanksgiving, but after they sent her his picture her heart melted.
It was on his second morning at the house that Marley had jumped into her lap. Jacquie had tried to put her phone on the table while catching Marley but she missed. The phone ended up on the floor with a shattered screen.
Marley's owner, Karen, was most apologetic but Jacquie would have none of it. The puppy was doing what puppies do, "…and besides", said Jacquie, "I made the decision 3 years ago when I got the phone not to get a cover."
A day, a drive and an hour’s wait later, she got the phone back with a new screen for one tenth of the cost of a new iPhone. "Well worth it," Jacquie had thought.
But now, a new problem…yesterday the phone started to act really funny so Jacquie turned it off. Now she couldn't get it back on even with the force restart. Getting the phone fixed was not a part of her plan for today. She had a ton of stuff to do for their party in two days, but here she was pulling into AT&T just before noon.
Quinton, the young salesman, wasn't too hopeful about what he could do but suggested he start by charging it. "Won't work," said Jacquie confidently, "I charged it overnight." He plugged it in anyway.
"What's happening Toni? Has she made a decision yet?"
"No boss. Quinton has given her the cost of replacing her phone so that if she goes back to the repair shop she doesn't pay more than that," replied Toni.
"Good work Quinton! Nice boy that," smiled the boss.
"And you know since she has the husband's old Samsung phone and could switch the sim card easily there's no way she's going to pay $700 for a new iPhone!" Toni laughed.
"Well, that would make most sense. Are you ready for action Toni? You know we can't let her get near 23rd Street today," said the boss.
As Quinton handed the phone back to Jacquie she noticed the picture of the dead battery and mentioned it. She had not seen that in any of her attempts to revive the phone.
"Well, I suggest on the way to 23rd Street you charge it," said Quinton.
"Good idea! Thanks Quinton, enjoy your day," she said gaily as she left the store.
"Ok boss," called Toni, "phase one has been initiated."
Jacquie heard the phone come alive in the car. It was dinging and signaling it was awake. Happily she had a red light. She picked it up and checked it.
"Hmm," she thought, "maybe it's just my charger that's bad. Great, I'll turn around at the next street and get back home to the party prep. I'll go up to 23rd Street later."
"Phase two and three being initiated boss," sang out Toni.
Jacquie was doing a 3-point turn on a small residential side street when the steering stopped working. She had to use all her strength just to turn it a little bit.
"Oh oh," she groaned as she noticed the battery light had come on as well. As best as she could she pulled the car over to the side and put on the flashers then picked up the phone. It had 1% power.
"Yes boss, the Paul phase went into action already. He's about to pop into his office between meetings," confirmed Toni.
"Yes ma'am," said PLG, Paul’s assistant, "he just stepped in. I'll get him for you."
By the time Jacquie’s phone died once more, Paul and PLG had arranged for a tow truck and were able to relay that message to Jacquie. As she sat waiting for it she realized that she didn't know any of Paul's phone numbers from memory. She would not be able to call him back to let him know when she was at the mechanic’s. In fact, she could not call anyone in the local area with her phone dead. Siri was not her friend in this case.
Taylor's tow truck was clean and new. The driver was pleasant and very courteous. Chatting on the way to the mechanic they talked about the danger of using Siri and not learning phone numbers. The driver said he didn't even know his own mother’s number in his head.
Two minutes later dispatch radioed in to say that Paul had called to find out if Jacquie had been picked up. They told him she was on her way to the mechanic.
"Thanks for the message," smiled Jacquie. "By any chance did they get his phone number?" The driver laughed and called the office back.
Also laughing were Toni and the boss. They knew Jacquie would have a long wait at the mechanic but she'd be home safe and sound by 5pm.
“It’s really amazing how everything lined up for you today,” Paul was saying as they talked about Jacquie’s afternoon at home later. “Thank goodness Butch at the mechanic’s shop was able to get the part. Life would have been a whole lot trickier since we only have that one car.”
"You know," replied Jacquie, "its like my angels were looking out for me today."
“By the way,” said Paul, “did you hear about the tractor trailer that turned over on 23rd Street today?”
Look for your angels today!