Last Monday morning I was sitting with a co-worker doing some computer work and I heard some buzzing that didn't go away. My co-worker suggested it sounded like someone outside with a weed-whacker. That seemed plausible except this went on and on and on. Eventually I realized the noise was coming from my bag. My phone, that had taken a quick dip in some water that morning, was continually vibrating. The only way to stop it was to take out the battery.
After work I went to a phone repair shop where I learned that 1) my phone was not worth the $65 to take it apart and dry it out, and 2) once a phone gets wet it is only a matter of time before it dies. I have been frustrated for some time by the lack of internal memory on my phone so decided this was a good excuse to upgrade. My next stop was Best Buy where two saleswomen helped me find the best option that fit my budget and typical call, text, and data use. I also decided to get a new number rather than waiting for the previous number to be released by my previous provider. That decision is why this story doesn't qualify as a "small moment."
The next morning I notified co-workers that I could be reached at a new number. In the afternoon I sent a text to a friend from church inviting her to come over for supper. A few minutes later she called, "I tried to text you but I get a response from someone who doesn't know who I am. Are you OK?" It seemed strange but when I got home from work I started notified about half of my contacts of my new number. Some texts came back to me but I later learned that for some strange reason most were ending up on someone else's phone. However, all of the calls appeared to be coming only to my phone.
The next morning I engaged in the futile attempt of reaching an actual human being at my provider's customer service. I couldn't seem to push the right number. (I know; push zero for as many times as it takes.) At work I asked a co-worker if she had responded to my text. She hadn't at the time but did then and got a response from someone else, "Do I know you?" I then used my co-worker's phone to dialogue with the poor person who was getting texts for Alice when she wasn't Alice. Long story short, this person had an old iPhone she only used to facetime with her friends when connected to WiFi. The number I had been given was tied to her apple account so any time she was online, the texts to her old number went to her phone rather than to mine. A very frustrating situation for us both! I thanked her for clearing up the mystery and assured her I would take care of it as soon as I was off work.
Back to Best Buy where a different salesman figured out I could go online and change my number. That looked and sounded far easier than trying to call customer service and that turned out to be the case. All that was left to do was to send out numerous texts once again:
This is Alice sending you my 2nd new number in as many days.
Hope this one isn't connected with someone's Apple account.
All the responses arrived on my phone. At least I think they did.
