Image: Gizmodo

Eliot and I spent almost six hours today at our local Apple Store on Lincoln Road on Miami Beach. I needed a new phone because my battery wasn’t charging on my iPhone 6 Plus. We are leaving for Japan in a week, and I wanted to make sure I have a fully functional smartphone. 

We thought buying a new phone would be pretty routine. Just the opposite. First of all, we both were not feeling well. Eliot caught a cold our last day in New York earlier this week and then I caught it from him. I was coughing so hard yesterday, I thought my insides were going to come out. 

I was feeling better this morning so we decided to venture out. Our first trip to the Apple Store lasted over two hours because it took that long to take advantage of the new Verizon plan that allows for monthly payments plus a trade in program. Then it took time to transfer all of the content.

I was thrilled when I got home.  I upgraded to an iPhone 7 Plus and I was exploring the new features. Then all of a sudden, I realized the battery wasn’t charging. “Oh, not again.” I couldn’t believe it. Old phone, new phone, the same problem. We proceeded to call Apple customer service. After an hour of investigation with two different agents and no results, we got disconnected. 

Exasperated, we headed back to the Apple Store. We were handed off to four different Apple personnel: one to check the battery, one to deal with the Verizon payment, another to exchange the iPhone via the service desk, the next to download the content. The last one tried to switch us to another Apple helper but I demanded that she stayed with us until everything was transferred. Compared to the others, she seemed most competent. She said she had another appointment, but I told her she couldn’t leave us. She saw the horror on my face, noticed my exasperated coughing, and decided to stay. 

For some reason, she had trouble getting my emails to download. There was no problem with the installation that morning but something got scrambled on our second visit. Another 45 minutes added to the journey. 

We finally headed home around 8pm. We started this mission at 11:30am. The good news is that it’s 12:09am and I’m writing to you on my new iPhone 7 Plus with a battery that  took a full charge. 

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The following was posted on Facebook by my friend Bobby.  My troubles today pale in comparison to the miseries of war. Thank you Bobby for remembering.