Walked miles for...
Did you see the picture printed in my column last week? That was taken by a Leica camera, owned by my new son. (I don’t like the word “stepson.”)
Paton is his name. “That’s the camera on my phone,” Paton said. When I was in my 20s, Leicas had a reputation as being one of the world’s best cameras. It’s a German camera.
Then I lost my Apple iPhone at the American Embassy when I got my visa. That phone had cost a lot and I didn’t want to spend that much again. I decided to get myself a Huawei with a Leica camera. It cost less than half the price. I immediately bought it but didn’t really need to take photographs.
Then my husband Loy had a small stroke early in the pandemic. I photographed him to send pictures to his children. Later I began to make rosaries and discovered that I could photograph the rosaries, got orders, got paid and didn’t have to leave home to get this done.
After a long time, my phone’s back began to warp. The fellow who sold it to me said it meant the battery would soon need changing. He directed me to their main branch in Podium.
Eventually, I went there and was impressed by their service. They were cognizant of the fact that I was a senior, let me in immediately, told me what they had to do, that I had to come back in a couple of hours. I did. My phone worked well. And I saw the ad for their latest phone, which had the number “40” on it. It was very expensive, but it had the best camera. I thought I wanted that model. It might help me sell more rosaries.
Last Thursday I went to my parlor for the works — haircut, mani-pedi, and eyebrow threading, something I had not done for too long. While doing the latter my phone was on my lap. I was going to cross my legs, clothed in leggings, when my phone slipped and dropped into a basin of water that we had used for the pedicure. The phone worked but the camera was blurred. Then it clicked. I marched off to Magnolia again to get my Huawei 40 and my Smart contract, which expired last August; I began again, all in one go.
This morning I photographed. Got it. When I tried to send it, it didn’t work. It’s going to take me a while to make it work because I didn’t grow up with cells and computers like the millennials.
When I got off at the new entrance to the mall, which was the fastest way to get to the stores I was going to, the guard stopped me. “Do you have a face shield, Ma’am?”
Omigod, I had one, but I left it in the car. All I had on was a mask, I explained.
“You need a face shield, Ma’am, or I can’t let you in.”
“I will buy one,” I said, figuring that would be faster than getting it from the car. “Where can I buy one?”
“At the drugstore,” he said, so I went marching off, up the escalator into the drugstore, which didn’t have one. You have to get it at the food court, they said.
I walked what felt like a mile including two escalators down to the food court, feeling afraid that I would be accosted by someone looking for my face shield. Nobody noticed. I bought the cheapest one for P350. In Quiapo, it costs less than half of that. Our driver says he buys his for P10.
Then I walked another mile up to the Smart store where there was a long line of people. But there was a young lady, Rem, who was giving a spiel to the young man in line in front of me about the phones they had available, giving me the opportunity to ask if they had the 40, with the best camera phone. “No,” she said, “but their store is right there. They might have one.”
So I walked once more and they did not have the 40 but they had a lower number with a better camera than my old phone and it was less than half the price of the 40. So I bought it. They transferred all the data from my old phone to my new phone. It took a bit of time but it was done. Then I could go and have my contract renewed. Everything went well. It took about two hours. I walked another mile to the parking area.
When I got home I was too tired to send any photos. I went to bed. This morning I photographed. Got it. When I tried to send it, it didn’t work. It’s going to take me a while to make it work because I didn’t grow up with cells and computers like the millennials.
So I’m writing this to make my deadline, then I will attend to a working knowledge of my new phone. In the meantime, my hair is frizzed from frustration. Please be patient with me.
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