You Ought To Start Charging For Your Services

Friend: “Can you look at my phone? It’s got a weird error.”

I don’t know much about phones, but I have an idea about computers. The two seem to be getting closer and closer together, anyway.

Me: “Sure. Oh, okay. Did you let your phone run out of battery?”

Friend: “Yeah, I always forget to charge it.”

Me: “Yeah, I’m guessing it’s like a PC. Your phone needs to shut down properly.”

Friend: “Can you fix it?”

Me: “I think so. Let me play with the menus.” 

I try a reboot; that doesn’t work. I let it load back up. Before I can try something else:

Friend: “Let me get my other charger. This isn’t working.”

Me: “A new charger isn’t going to change anything.”

Friend: “Well, I’m going to get it anyway.”

By the time they have messed about, I have shut down the phone and started it — this time to the normal screen.

Friend: “Oh, it’s working again?”

Me: “Yes, I would make sure that you don’t let it run out of battery if it’s giving you these issues.”

Friend: “Well, I’ll charge it with this charger, instead. That should help.”

Me: “As long as it’s charged, it doesn’t matter what charger you use.”

Friend: “But this one is the proper one.”

I left it. If someone is going to ask for my help on something they know nothing about and then argue with me, I’m not helping them anymore. 

It was a full week before their phone stopped working again; again, they didn’t charge it. I told them to take it to a repair shop. They couldn’t understand why it kept happening; when they did charge it, they used the right charger!