Back in November, I was on call for my agency. This means I carry the agency cell phone and must field all calls that come in after hours and on weekends. Maybe I should say especially weekends, since weekends are after hours and that is when the bulk of the calls come in. I am supposed to be there for emergencies, but many of the calls are anything but. “So-an-so is late. She’s always late. I’m sure she’ll be in eventually, be we are sick of it and want you to know.”
So. Going into my on-call rotation, I made an affirmation that no one would call out. So what happened on Friday night? Two - count them, two - no-call, no-shows. And then on Saturday morning, all heck broke loose and there were multiple call-outs. Some found their own coverage, some simply refused to go in, and one (bless her!) said she’d suck it up and go in if I couldn’t find anyone (and I couldn’t and she did). It’s the no-call, no-shows, that make me pretty unpopular in the moment, because I may have to hold a staff for an hour or a whole extra shift if I can’t find anyone else to cover.
I ended up having to go in and cover an overnight shift on Saturday night. Fortunately, it was a sleep shift. I didn’t sleep the whole night, but I slept as well as could be expected. Afterward, I had some errands to run, so I stayed in town. I went to a cafe for a pastry and chai. While relaxing in the cafe and sipping my chai, I played on Facebook on my phone.
A Facebook friend asked a question: “What would you rather have: a new kitchen, a new smartphone, or a new HDTV?” I posted, “I want a new smartphone, preferably one with a longer battery life.” Within minutes, the agency cellphone rang and I answered immediately. In retrospect, I should have answered the call outside, even if it meant having to call the person back. It was a staff calling out for a shift in a few hours, and I grabbed everything off the coffee shop table and left the building so I could talk in privacy (the cafe was busy).
As soon as I got outside, a fire truck screamed by. So much for quiet. I still had trouble hearing the caller. I made it to my car, still talking: it’s really short notice, who do you think will cover, etc. As I got into my car and ended the call, I started searching for my own cellphone. Is it in my pockets? My purse? My car? The cafe? It must be in the cafe. Or my pockets. I patted the same pockets multiple times. I went back to the table where I’d been sitting. Nothing there. I asked the lady who had been sitting across the table from me if she had seen my cellphone. She looked at me as if I were crazy and said I was holding it. Um, no, not this phone, my phone, the one I had just been surfing Facebook on before I got a call on the agency phone. She hadn’t seen it. Or said she hadn’t. I asked the store personnel. No go. I looked in the trash near the door (I really must have looked crazy), the parking lot, my car, the cafe again (I left the agency cell number in case my phone turned up). I tried calling my phone from the agency phone. I know the ringer was on, but I didn’t hear it ringing, not in the cafe, not in my car, not between the cafe and my car.
Finally, I went to my car and made some calls to staff to try to cover the shift (no one picked up, so I left voicemails), then drove across the street to the cellphone store (okay, it was across the street about a quarter of a mile away). The guy in the cellphone store deactivated my phone and checked to see if I qualified for an upgrade. To my surprise, I did. He did try to locate my previous phone, but it showed as being shut off. I know it was on when I took the agency call. I also know it had about 50% charge. If I had dropped my phone in the back seat of my messy car, it surely would have shown up. I must assume a cafe customer took the phone and turned it off so it wouldn’t be found.
So, my missing phone was deactivated and the guy in the store said that I should not erase the phone remotely. He said that doing so would make it so whomever picked it up would be able to use it just like a new phone (a new phone whose battery lasts about 4 hours). I’m sure there are ways to reactivate a deactivated phone, but the guy reassured me that my data was safe. I hoped so. I really hoped so.
I was eligible for an upgrade. Not a great upgrade, since I hadn’t had the missing phone for long (a year, but I didn’t think I was anywhere close to being eligible for an upgrade), but since I really needed a new phone right now, I took what was offered. The new iPhone 6 sounded good, but wasn’t in stock. It might take about three weeks to get them in. I had been considering going with something that runs on Android ever since I purchased a Nexus 7 tablet over the winter. They has Samsungs in stock, including the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which the guy in the store said has a good camera. I found out later that this phone is the latest and greatest and is the iPhone rival. Cool.
So. Be careful what you wish for. Don’t tell Facebook and the Universe you want a new smartphone unless you are prepared to have your current one stolen so you can get a new one right away.
