Finding Jesus in the AT&T Store

This past week has been a crazy one in our house. School finally started back on Wednesday with the dreaded, logistical nightmare of a half-day that sends parents scrambling for afternoon childcare and yet another lunch option. The afternoon of our particular half day, I found myself playing an intense game of basketball with my eight-year-old son (side note…I wouldn’t have practiced so much growing up if I knew I would end up in a daily pick-up game at the age of forty). Regardless, I placed my phone on top of my parked car, to keep it away from a random airball (obviously not mine) and still be able to hear if an important call came in. That is when my precious and beautiful bull-in-a-china-shop five-year-old daughter intervened.

You see, my daughter has recently become obsessed with cheerleading. So, naturally, she decided that this intense game of pick-up needed a cheerleader and that her designated spot would be the hatch/ tailgate of my midsize SUV. As she pressed the button to open the hatch and get situated for her cheer performance, I heard my cell phone slide between two parts of the SUV and become perfectly wedged. Then, in what seemed like slow motion, I heard the painful sound of shattered glass and cracking work apps. Everyone froze. The ball bounced into the neighbor’s driveway with a deafening echo. I tiptoed up to the car, still hopeful my ears were playing tricks on me. Alas, I grabbed my phone and realized it had died a slow, crushing death.

Immediately, I knew what I had to do. I looked at my watch- four o’clock. I still had time to make it to the AT&T store before the five o’clock influx of customers. I sent my children to my neighbor’s and jumped into the car to begin the daunting journey of an unforeseen visit to the cell phone store where I would have to painstakingly attempt to understand all the new upgrades, mega bites vs. gigabits, data coverages, and whatever the hell all those storefront workers talk about. Now, it may seem more of an annoying nuisance rather than an emergency but let’s face it- cell phones have gone from what once was a luxury to what is now a necessity. Between my children’s school apps, alarm clocks, work emails, personal and professional schedules, online banking or bill payments, and post-COVID video conference calls, everything is on my cell phone these days. From my cram-packed schedule of meetings the next day to my children’s first full day school, I knew I would have to have a working cell phone in hand when I woke up.

Off I went- to a place that seventy-five percent of the time, no one wants to be in. As I entered the storefront, I scoured the number of employees against the number of customers, and realized my chances looked pretty good. “I’ll be out of here in an hour. I can still make flag football practice and dinner,” I confidently thought. I patiently waited for ten minutes (new record time) and sat down with an employee named Juanita at one of the high-top tables. We were both unaware of the emotional rollercoaster we were about to go on together. At the table next to me sat a retired schoolteacher who couldn’t receive calls from numbers she didn’t know. Her name was Karen, and she was just as blissfully unaware that she was about to become my counselor and encourager.

As I explained my problem to Juanita, we went through my options with insurance coverage and data packages. I quickly decided on a phone and all the new accessories that you must purchase because they are always changing them and began the process of pairing the new phone with my account. That’s when the problems started. Juanita tapped away at her iPad with her freshly done, brightly colored, acrylic nails. Tap…tap…taptaptaptap. The tapping became firmer and louder as each minute ticked by. She would politely excuse herself from time to time and go talk to her manager, then return, tap some more, then repeat. After an hour, I looked at Karen next to me with my tired mom eyes and said, “I am so frustrated.”

Karen lovingly replied to me, “I know baby, but it’s going to work out. Don’t you worry. Jesus has got you.”

Jesus was not going to cook dinner or help me make it to flag football, but I took a deep breath and stayed the course. Juanita returned and simply replied, “It’s not the phone. It’s not your account. It’s just that AT&T did an upgrade, and for some reason it’s just not letting me put another phone with your account, so we can’t do it. We’ve had a lot of problems with it.”

“Can’t do it? Can’t do it is not an option. I have small kids and a job that all require me to have a phone. I cannot leave this store without something.” I desperately pleaded to Juanita. In my defense, I had been up since five-thirty, shuffling kids in and out of the excitement of meeting teachers, adjusting to classrooms, lunch with friends, and an intense basketball game. The clock ticked on, and the next time I looked at my watch, I realized it was six-thirty. Karen was still there, too; however, she was wrapping up.

“Thank you, Jesus!” she exclaimed as she got her problem resolved. She grabbed her purse, walked over to me, and rubbed my back. “It’s going to be okay. It’s going to work out. Jesus has got you.” I took a deep breath and remembered what Karen said to me. Tears of frustration and pure working mom exhaustion were starting to fill my eyes. I thought to myself- “do not cry in the AT&T store. Keep it together.” Then I realized how silly the entire situation was. Things could be so much worse. No one was sick, no one was dying (except my phone), and nothing was that serious. I thought about how perhaps the moment I was in was a gift- two hours of quiet time with no working phone, not having to rely on a tiny computer for all the things, not having two small kids pulling on me and asking me twenty million questions. Perhaps not having a phone for a few days would be the luxury. I relaxed and accepted that whatever Juanita had to tell me would be okay. I released the control I always try to have in every situation. I gave it up.

“Alright then, Jesus. Whatever you want me to learn from this, I guess I’ll take it,” I quietly said to myself. Juanita eventually returned to me, just as frustrated as I was. We were both doing our best not to take our frustrations out on each other and became fast friends instead. We learned we were both working mothers, both had husbands in construction, and both did not want to be at that cell phone store at seven o’clock at night in the middle of a busy week. Finally, around seven-fifteen, a true miracle happened in that cell phone store. The manager tried one more thing with Juanita, and what do you know- I got myself a brand-new working phone.

Juanita and I hugged like we had just reached the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro together. I thanked her repeatedly while she snuck a free charger into my bag. After three and a half hours, I found myself leaving that ice-cold store front while saying “Thank you Jesus” just like Karen did as she left.

Even though that event was not fun whatsoever, I learned a few things in the AT&T store in Nashville, Tennessee. I learned I am way too dependent on my phone and need to work on that, even though society makes it so that we almost have to be. I learned that we are all more alike than we think (take it from me and Juanita). And I learned, that if you can’t make it to church, just go on into the local cell phone store. Whether it’s through prayers of desperation and frustration or prayers of thanksgiving and relief, you’ll find Jesus right there in your local storefront.

Finding Jesus in the AT&T Store

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