Cell Phone vs. Washing Machine

A week ago I washed my cell phone.  It literally went through an entire cycle in the washing machine.  I didn't even realize what had happened until I was searching the house high and low to find it before church.  When I couldn't find it I did what I normally do; I asked my husband if he had seen it anywhere.  He couldn't remember seeing it any where and it wasn't in any of the normal places.  Finally I tried to call myself with Gray's phone.  It went straight to voicemail.  That was when I knew something was definitely wrong.  I'd been running the day before and had my phone in my pocket so I decided maybe I'd dropped it.  Then something made me remember the washing machine.  I opened it up and there in the bottom beneath my running pants was my poor pink cell phone.  I figured it's life had run out at that point.  

Right after church I stopped by the Sprint store to find out my options.  That was a mistake.  I ended up getting a mini lecture on not having insurance for my phone.  After reminding them I was due for an upgrade they informed me I only had a $75 upgrade which according to them was not very much.  (Since when did they stop making cell phones that simply make calls?  Why do they have to check your e-mail, play music, take pictures, make your coffee, brush your teeth, and walk your dog . . . okay okay I'm getting carried away)  Anyway, the "helpful" Sprint employee showed me toward two $300 phones which I informed him was a ridiculous price for a cell phone.  Instead of showing my something I might have actually bought, he told my I should just wait and see if my phone would turn on after it dried out.  I walked out after snidely thanking him.  I can't believe that he let me walk out of the store without spending any money.  With the economy they way it is he should have shown me as many options as possible at all price ranges instead of basically kicking me out after showing my the most expensive phones.  I fully intended to spend some money on a phone that day and he let me walk out without dropping a dime.  (If only I could tell people like that how I really feel.)  

I tried everything under the sun to dry my phone out.  It spent an entire day over a heating vent, I put it in a bag of rice, I baked it in the oven at the lowest temperature.  My phone never did turn on again.  Gray and I ended up borrowing a phone from our friend and I went to a different Sprint store where the employees actually seemed to want my business.  After finally getting my phone number attached to a phone that worked I asked about my next upgrade.  

Sprint employee: "On November 1st you will have a $150 upgrade."

Me: "Ok, thanks."

Sprint employee: "Oh, but your husband has a $150 upgrade now."

I didn't even know what to say at that point.  After three days of not having a phone, stewing about how I was treated at the first Sprint store, and trying to problem solve the most economical solution for us . . . I find out we could have gotten a new phone all along.