What To Do When You Break Someone’s Phone Screen
I should have shared this last year, I didn’t. I’m sharing it today just for the heck of it. Didn’t bother polishing it or making it cooler… I’m posting it as is.
Wednesday 31st August 2016, 3:18 pm
I’m sitting at my friend’s house at Ikorodu right now, and I’m having Coca-Cola. I haven’t had Coke in a while, but totally hate the fact that I’m drinking it right now. Quite a distasteful experience considering my bowels are experiencing turmoil. I’m waiting for the Glo customer care people to pick up so I can unsubscribe from my current plan and upgrade to a more decent one.
What do all these have to do with this post? Well, absolutely nothing. I haven’t even mapped out a trajectory for it yet. I’m just going where the keystrokes take me.
Alright, let’s get pumping.
A w̶i̶s̶e̶ m̶a̶n regular woman once said,
“The only thing worse than breaking your phone screen is having your phone screen broken by a friend.”
— Regular Woman
If you’ve ever been in this situation before, you might be able to recall trying to match the “What the hell? Are you crazy? Oya, you must pay?” type thoughts raving through your mind with the “Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry, I’ll fix it” look on your face…and failing woefully.
If you use a “kplalasa” phone, you’re safe.
If not…
Please illustrate with the aid of a labeled diagram how you plan to raise N30K+ to fix your iPhone screen?
😐
Wednesday 31st August 2016, 3:54 pm
I have finally finished the Coke…and Glo customer care has still not responded.
Moving on.
In a bid to save the relationship and continue the Mr. Nice Guy legacy you’ve fought so hard to build, the thought of asking your friend to pay for your broken screen NEVER makes it out from your head.
You simply can’t tell them to pay for it. Mbanu. It’s against the laws of the land, the unspoken rules of friendship.
Or is it?
About a year ago, an “accident” at work that wasn’t really my fault led to the destruction of a USB stick that belonged to a colleague of mine.
I knew that he wasn’t pleased, but he was like me, or most of us… ultimate Mr. Nice Guy.
He didn’t complain, he said it was fine but I saw through the smile.
That was when it hit me.
The fact that he said it was okay, wasn’t enough reason to not do anything about the situation.
I decided to “accept” responsibility.
Went to the teller machine close to our block, got some cash, strolled back to the office and handed it over to him.
“I’m really sorry, man, this should reduce the burden on your pocket.”
He hesitated at first… another opportunity for me to put my cashback into my pocket…
Still, I insisted, gave him the cheese and he was very grateful.
I’m sure we’ve all had friends “destroy”, misuse and abuse our personal property without remorse.
Well, I certainly have. From headphones to my laptop, to footwear to my toothbrush (a story for another day).
Deep down, we know what the right and noble thing to do is.
It helps to put ourselves in others’ shoes. I mean, won’t you be happy if the person who hit your car offered to pay for some or all of the damages?
I for one would be relieved.
I’m already tired of writing.
I’ll end with this list of action items
Be careful. Accidents happen. During that split second where absolute care is not being taken, things can go horribly wrong.
Handle things with care, especially things that don’t belong to you.
Be responsible. Accidents happen. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, still it’s very important that we take responsibility for our actions at all times.
Somebody has to pay for the screen you broke.
Even if you don’t have money.
The noble thing to do is try and contribute a fair amount to the replacement of the damaged item.
Heck, you could even do a fundraiser to generate the cash you need.
There are several ways to help, saying sorry and moving on with your life isn’t one of them.
Finally, what‘s the best way to respond when your friend breaks your phone screen?
LOL. I honestly don’t know. How you choose to respond is entirely up to you.
Peace. (Y)
