Today we got out of pharm class early so my friend and I decided to take a walk along the pier where all the boats were docked and take some pictures. Excitedly, we both grabbed our phones and walked out on the boardwalk. She was taking a photo with her phone when she took a step backwards and tripped, but not before she reached out and grabbed onto my arm. I instinctively spread my hands open in preparation to fall as well. But unfortunately, I had my phone in hand, and as my friend fell and landed on the boardwalk, I saw my phone fly in an arc trajectory and land in the water with a soft plop! It immediately disappeared in the dark green opaque murky water that gave off a slightly foul smell. I think I stared in disbelief for a second or two before I started pointing and yelling. I couldn't believe my phone just fell into the water! It was always one of my worst fears! I used to think about it when walking near water and I would always clutch my phone tighter in my hand as if it was a baby. But just now my phone flew out of my hand! It was so unexpected and happened so fast.
We started asking the security guard who was standing nearby if he could do something about it. My friend asked him how deep the water was and he said something around the chest. Some students had started to gather by now and they offered suggestions on how to retrieve it but none were good and no one was willing to go down into the water to fetch it (I don't blame them for the water looked foul and disgusting and you couldn't see anything in it at all). People were saying how the phone is probably past dead by now. Not only had it been sitting in the water for 20 minutes, but it was salt water, which is many times worse than fresh water. But I couldn't just leave my phone at the bottom of the lagoon! It was like a little piece of me. I had thousands of photos, notes I had written for myself, all my contacts. It was my touchstone, something so familiar that I carried it around wherever I go. More importantly, how will I take photos of everything interesting that I see and eat! I had to get it back!
We talked to some more people, and someone said something about a diver being in the area. We waited for a bit and someone came out on the dock in a diving suit. I pointed to where I had saw my phone disappear, and he waded into the water in his full body diving suit. The water reached up to his neck, but he didn't seem to be fazed. Slowly, he felt around with his foot for my phone. It took him about five minutes before his hand came up holding my iphone, dripping wet. I was so relieved to see it again. Even though I knew it was dead, I was still happy to have it back in my possession. We thanked him and I went with my friend to her car. We drove to the nearest grocery store and I rushed inside and bought a small bag of rice. In the car, I stuffed my iphone in the bag of rice. For the rest of the day I carried the bag of rice around with me like it was my baby.

My expression watching my phone fall into the water.

So I guess that's the end of my iPhone 4. I will have to resort to using my clunky point-and-shoot camera to take photos. Which will most likely mean less picture taking in general. The iPhone 5s is coming out this month so I will be keeping an eye on it in stores... 

Labels: iphone

MD2 on an island.