A Very Expensive Piece of Plastic

The pricey plastic and the ruined cell phone, with its battery removed.

Okay so Babs and I are down at the beach. We're sitting in the car waiting for everyone to arrive for the baptisms of some new members.

I notice this piece of plastic floating by in the shallows and it's driving me crazy. I can't stand to see litter ruining our beautiful tropical environment. I decided I'll just wade out there and grab it.

So I roll up my khakis and dash out into the water. It quickly creeps up to my knees, then my thighs, then finally past my waist, to my chest before I finally reach the plastic wrap. And before I remember my wallet and. . oh NOOOOOOOO! My cell phone! I rip it out of my pocket, hoping to save it, but one glance at what appears to be water trapped in the blank screen and I know it's too late.

I return to the car, dripping wet carrying the very expensive plastic and my ruined cell phone, cursing myself for my own stupidity. Thankfully, Babs said nothing about my idiotic behavior (though I'm sure she was just dying to) and I was grateful for that. Luckily, I had a pair of shorts in the car so I was able to change pants, so I didn't have to stand through the entire baptism in dripping trousers looking like someone who decided to get baptized but changed their minds at the last minute!

So I guess it's time to shop around for a new cell phone. . .My friend and fellow teacher Judith says that if you leave the battery out of the phone for three days it will work again, but I'm not convinced of that at all.

The scene of the crime. If you're going to destroy your cell phone, you might as well do it in a beautiful place.

That's all the stuff in my wallet spread out to dry, with the empty wallet open in the top right corner on top of the blank CDs.