In addition to her learner’s permit and some golf accessories, Gamma got a cell phone for her 15th birthday last Sunday. With the freedom and privileges that come with age and responsibility, she’s out without parents or older siblings more often these days.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wirelessgalaxy.com\/ac\/images1\/Model%5Ckx5.jpg\")
She’d asked for an MP3 player for her birthday (having been told that she couldn’t have a cell phone until her 16th — a diversionary tactic on my part), so I splurged and got her one with the MP3 player built in. It uses a MicroSD flash card for song storage, which arrived via UPS today. <\/p>\n
Every day when she goes to the big municipal pool, I tell her to lock it in the lockers. I’ve made sure she has quarters. And she has, every day, except that after she called me about a quarter of six this afternoon, she just stuck it in her pool bag and jumped back in the water, one last time.<\/p>\n
When she came back, it was gone. She found the plastic belt clip two tables away, stuffed under a pile of trash. Her friends dialed the number over and over, wandering all around the pool to listen to it ring, but nothing.<\/p>\n
The thieves had left the pool by then — it only takes a minute.<\/p>\n
She had it for all of five days.<\/p>\n
Signal insurance from US Cellular is a notorious rip-off, so it wasn’t insured. She was warned on Sunday that I will not replace it if it’s lost, broken, or stolen… so it’s a good thing she starts her summer babysitting job next week.<\/p>\n
It’ll take her nearly three weeks to earn enough to replace it. That’s a helluva hard lesson — just about all of her summer’s earnings to replace a gift that she had for five days. <\/p>\n
Although yes, it was her fault for leaving it unsecured, I’m absolutely fed up with the thieving little illegitimates who’ve taken up residence (or visitation) in our fair town. One of these days, they’re going to steal from the wrong person at just the wrong time, and meet up with a Louisville Slugger (or worse). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In addition to her learner’s permit and some golf accessories, Gamma got a cell phone for her 15th birthday last Sunday. With the freedom and privileges that come with age and responsibility, she’s out without parents or older siblings more … Continue reading