"You don’t understand; my life is in that phone.”
Her lips tremble, but her eyes sharpen.
“What’s wrong with it?”
She's straddling the line between being 'scared' and being 'rude'.
Sensing this one is close to the edge, I remind her, as gently as I can, that “when electronics get wet, they often don’t make it back.” She insists there must be something I can do. There is nothing I can do. I have taken the initially offered phone, with visible liquid misting and beading up underneath the front screen, and have tried my best. I have grabbed three different power sources, popped in three different batteries (each producing the same misleading “red light of almost”).
I take the back off, grab a T6 screwdriver and dismantle the body just to say “hmmm” and have her eyes widen and lips scream “WHAT...WHAT? WHAT IS IT?!?!?”.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? What do you mean, ‘nothing’? What about all my information? All my e-mails, all my contacts?”
“You said you never backed them up on any computer?” I try to help by possibly jogging her memory.
“Nope” her lips sputter as her eyes close again, incredulous that I would ask.
“Hmmm.”
“There must be something you can do,” she insists. There is nothing I can do. She goes on. “This must be some kind of joke,” and then, looking around “aren’t you the Phone Company??”
I confirm her whereabouts as I resist the urge to remind her that I am simply one guy working for the Phone Company.
“I can’t believe you can’t do anything. Let me talk to someone who can do something.”
There it is.
I let the accusation of my impotence roll off me as I straighten my back and put the phone back together.
“Miss, there’s nothing that anyone here can do.”
“You don’t understand; my life is in that phone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe you’re not going to help me.”
“Miss, I’ve helped you as much as I possibly can. We tried.”
She cries...then continues,
“And you’re just standing there like an idiot!!”
“Miss, there’s no need for that. I’ve explained all of your options. I apologize that you are not satisfied with any of our solutions. You never backed up your contacts so there’s really no way of getting them back. I don’t want to assign blame here, but I don’t think it’s fair that you accuse me of being anything less than helpful.”
“Are you fucking kidding me!? MY FUCKING LIFE IS IN THERE!!!!”
“Then your life is very small.
And wet.”
