A Recent (mis)Adventure - Part 1
A true-ish story…
Early one morning, not too long ago, my typical languorous awakening was jerked into alertness by the desperate pleas for help from a dear but somewhat clumsy friend. A terrible misfortune had befallen her and so great was her angst that she was incapable of articulating with clarity the dire situation she found herself in. Indeed, her pleas for assistance arrived to me indirectly via her companion who had been doing his best to alleviate her hysterics, to no avail.
“Please!” he begged me, “She’s falling to pieces. I can’t leave her. Is there anything you can do?”
What was the cause of such desperation, you may ask? Well, let me tell you. It was a loss so great, so frightening, so unbearable, that it would cause even the coolest-headed of you, dear readers, to lose your senses.
She had lost her mobile phone.
Dear God! I hear you gasp! Not her mobile phone!?
Yes, her mobile phone. That most precious of devices, now so laden with every minutia of our lives that we question our very existence in its absence.
The circumstances of the loss were a little hazy, but eventually I gathered that the phone had fallen victim to the worst of all evils – a drunken stupor. Nothing has more power to ruin the memories of a gay night out filled with fun and hilarity quite as much as losing your phone in a cab on the way home. Not even the mother of all hangovers can make you curse the god Dionysus to oblivion and promise your soul to Sophrosyne, the goddess of moderation, self-control and temperance quite like the misfortune of losing this techie extension of a most beloved limb.
In my role as the level-headed, reliable, trustworthy, and capable friend, I quickly jumped into action having barely had time to savour my daily elixir of strength and fortitude – my morning coffee.
“Please tell me she’s activated her Find My Phone feature!” I prayed to the electronic gods who must have heeded my supplication for there on the screen was the most miraculous of sights, a little beacon of hope locating her phone not 30 minutes from my home. Hurray!
My joy, however, was short-lived. While her phone appeared to lie idle within such an easy distance simply waiting for me to swoop in and save it from unknown peril, its situation in the heart of unfamiliar territory caused me some pause. Did I have the courage to venture into these uncharted waters? To brave whatever mysterious element might be lurking in its shadows? Was this now the ultimate test of my comradely devotion? Would I be up to the task?
…to be continued…