teenagers – Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker

I had a heart stopping moment (I know– it’s embarrassing) this morning when I tried to turn my iPhone on and it (gasp) would not turn on. I tried and tried and tried (“I said not to panic!”) to no avail.

I allowed myself to briefly fast forward to how difficult my life would be until i was able to get it fixed. Or replaced. Would my contacts be able to be retrieved? That cloud thing has been full for weeks! I know this, because I have been ignoring my iPhone’s pleas to upgrade for only $5 a month (or whatever) because (gosh darn it!), I just don’t want to start paying for one more monthly thing that I was getting for free.

My teenage daughter: Mom! What’s the matter?

Me: My phone won’t turn on! To myself: How did she know something was wrong?

Teenage daughter: Give it to me. I can fix it.

I started to argue with her, but honestly , I didn’t have time, so I gave it to her. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to fix it.
She fixed it.

Me: How did you fix it?
Teenage daughter: When it happened to my phone, I googled how to turn it on and it told me what to do.

It bears mentioning here that she took advice that I give her whenever she says she doesn’t know how to do something. Happy dance!

The quote above comes from the movie, Couples Retreat. Here’s the ‘I said not to panic’ scene:

I was at Hannaford’s in Kennebunk Saturday night, and after my transaction, I noticed that the (young, teenaged) cashier put aside my BLANK SIGNED CHECK next to the register. I asked if she printed my check (although I could clearly see she had not) and she said, “Oh, yeah; we usually do but it didn’t print this time.”

I’m thinking, “Well, she’s young. She doesn’t realize the risk of theft involved with a signed, blank check just lying around the store. Someone who is dishonest (not her! not her!) might take advantage of a situation like that.

So I said, “Well, give it back! I’ll write it.” She gave it back. I wrote it.

When i got home, I told my husband what happened. He said, “Did you tell the manager?” and of course, I had not. “Call there now.”

I called. I told the manager what happened. He asked me if I had the receipt with the cashier’s name on it. I did. I named her. He said that he knew it was going to be that particular cashier.

I had a similar experience last summer when the store was the Stop and Shop. I wrote a check, and then noticed that I was charged $177 but the total was actually $117. I asked the cashier why she had overcharged me $60. She just said, “Oh,” and gave the discrepancy back in cash.

Lesson: Pay by credit or debit card! Check your receipt carefully!