Nudged into the 21st Century

Once upon a time, there was a woman who was not convinced that she needed a cell phone.

"Why should I own a cell phone? I'm ALWAYS home! And when I'm not home, I prefer to not be on the phone."

Yes, she was teased by others. But, she was happy with her cell phone free life.

Then one day, tragedy struck! Her trusty white van (may it rest in peace) broke down on a busy street in Stockton. It barely had enough momentum to pull into a parking lot. There it sat.

It was a hot August day. Said woman was on her way to UOP to pick up darling daughter #3 from her lovely job working as a custodian. Darling Daughter #3 owned a cell phone. She was very 21st century.

"Hmmm," thought the woman. "I need to call daughter and let her know I will be late. I need to call husband and ask him to rescue daughter and then rescue me."

She proceeded to look for a pay phone. She went to one place of business.

No pay phone.

She went to another place of business.

No pay phone.

She went to a third place of business.

Still no pay phone.

Mustering her courage, she approached the owner of the third business and asked if he knew where a pay phone was at--her car was broken down in his very parking lot and it was a very hot August afternoon.

Business owner took pity on her. He offered his business phone. She called husband. She explained her predicament. Because daughter #3 had a Utah phone number on her cell phone, she asked husband to call daughter because she did not want to add a long distance charge to nice business man's bill.

Then she went back to her hot van and waited to be rescued. She waited. And waited. And waited. Two things were realized during that very hot wait.

1. She needed a new car.

2. She needed to break down and buy a cell phone.

Tomorrow: Part II of this very fascinating story. I bet you can't wait!