A Coincidence

Years ago, I have no idea how many, I signed up with the college where I was teaching to get a cell phone at a special discount rate. It was so long ago that I had to haul the cell phone around in a wagon. Okay, it wasn't that big, but it was big. It was an analog phone. Later on I traded it in for a digital model, just the kind I needed. It wouldn't do anything other than make and receive calls. It wouldn't even take pictures.

The other day, I decided it was time to update myself and get a smartphone. So I did, from the same carrier. I couldn't get the same deal, though, and the rep at Best Buy couldn't even transfer the number or cancel the old contract because of the special deal. I'd have to take care of that at the college.

So on Friday I went out there and walked into the office of Janet Schweibel, who's in charge of the phone accounts. As soon as I came through the door, she said, "I hope you're not here about your cell phone."

I was taken aback. I said, "How did you know?" It turned out that she didn't know. She thought I might be there about getting a new phone or adding someone to the account or something like that. She'd asked the question because, as she explained, she'd just heard from the carrier, and the college was going to cancel the program. She was going to have to notify everyone that they'd no longer be able to use their cell phones and that they'd have to get new ones.

I'm glad I'm always (barely) ahead of the curve.