The Not-So-Smart Owner

Claudia and I set off at 1 pm today to buy smart phones.  I was going to  buy my first smart phone; she was upgrading from a Blackberry.  We drove directly to Best Buy, where they sell every smart phone you could possibly want.

Very soon I was in the hands of a Verizon rep who looked amazingly like Luci Johnson.  Didn't catch her name; I just thought of her as "Luci." (Claudia agreed, she looked very Luci-like).   In no time, I'd decided on an iPhone 4S which, for those of you who don't know, means that I have a tiny person named Siri inside my phone who is now my slave. I'm very excited about that aspect. I can boss her around, tell her to e-mail people, have her take down a shopping list as I wander around my kitchen. All by speaking into this magical instrument.

Luci-Lookalike turned us over to a Best Buy employee named Virgil, who was a doll. Efficient, smiley, utterly lacking in condescension.   Still, it  took at least 45 minutes to sell us two phones (Claudia got a Windows phone). The line of people waiting for help was long, but Virgil was methodical and fully attentive.  He transferred our phone numbers.  He offered service contracts.  Finally, as the last step, he took our credit cards.  I felt as though we were carrying the crown jewels out of the store.

We and our phones repaired to Saul's in North Berkeley for a late lunch.   Since the place was nearly deserted and we had a very accommodating waiter, we sat and fiddled with our phones after we'd finished eating, passing them back and forth to each other when we got stuck.  Which was often. I  did manage to take an iPhone photo of Claudia:

Claudia mulling her new smart phone

Finally, we managed to call each other FROM ACROSS THE TABLE.  Yes, we did!  We had failed at downloading apps, getting our e-mail accounts on the phones, and other challenges, but, by God, we called each other at Saul's.  Then I called my house and got the answering machine.  Then I called my sister's cell and got a strange woman on voicemail.  Three calls!

I came home and put out an SOS to Annika.  She came over, reassuring and patient, and showed me some basics. Without her, there would be no picture in this post.  In the meantime, I got to look at her iPhone and see guys who are approaching her on Ok Cupid.  I learned that some are douche-y.  All in all, I feel a little more hip than I did this morning.

And Leah, if you're reading this, I no longer have that embarrassing flip phone.