Independence...sort of.

So, this last week I've been slowly cutting the old apron strings that a certain parental unit has decided to tie around me.

How did I do that, pray tell? I got my very own cell phone and cell phone plan.

That, in itself, was a retarded adventure. I had been telling Chan for months that I would like to get my own plan and phone in the hopes of building credit and possibly working my way to getting to move out of the house. Chan had offered to help with this on several occasions, convincing me that I should go with his carrier, AT&T. I'm currently on Verizon, having changed FROM AT&T two years ago due to AT&T's uncanny ability to lose coverage when I needed it most.

Exhibit A: I had to get in my bed at college (which was lofted) and then do some very interesting acrobatics/acts of contortionism in order to get my phone to work. I had absolutely no coverage with AT&T for two years during my freshman and sophomore years. My friend Angela, who also had AT&T, found it very hard to talk to me. I could only get in a spot and stay still for 5 minutes before I would completely lose her.

With Verizon, I had no problems. The quality of the phones were even better. Hell, the phone I had for almost all of my two year contract with them lasted a year and a half, when I went to dinner with Angela (while talking to Chan during dinner via text messaging) and I looked down in my lap to see that my phone was off.

Puzzled, I asked Angela if she saw me turn my phone off. When she said no, I tried to turn the phone back on. It gave me the screen of death (the mulitcolored background you get from a dying TV or when they do emergency testing) and refused to turn back on again. The new phone I had is still going, but I kind of hate it.

Anyway, I befriended the manager of the Verizon Cellular Sales kiosk somehow. Angela and I had gone in to see how much it would cost me to get my own plan. The guy (who is totally awesome and I highly recommend him to any new Verizon customers) told me he'd sell me the phone for less than the asking price, and that the only thing I would have to pay for THAT day would be the phone. I chickened out, but he told me to keep his number just in case I decided to go into it sometime in the future.

And here's where the mess from hell begins.

I told Chan last Wednesday to be at my house at 10:00 so that we could go get me a cell phone plan. Chan showed up at my house (tired, as per usual) and we set off in search of a plan. We went to Best Buy Mobile and started getting things set up, when I discovered (to my shock) that there was a major roadblock: AT&T was going to charge me $500 to start up a line (not including the phone) due to my having no credit. We then went to a real AT&T retail store and got the same answer.

Pissed, I then remembered what the guy from the Verizon Sales Kiosk said, and I dug the number out of my wallet and called. The guy took a minute to remember who I was (since it was almost 2 months since I last saw him) but he remembered because of the shirt I was wearing that day, and my overly giggly friend Angela. He told me he'd be at the store at 4, and to come by and we'd negotiate things.

Since we were already headed to the mall (and it was noon) we decided to eat some lunch and then putz around the mall. We called a friend of his (who is totally nice, by the way) and we hung out around Barnes and Noble having debates over various things. He came with us to see the Verizon guy....and Chan and Brent watched us as we negotiated.

I went with the LG enV Touch. I absolutely LOVE it! It holds its battery charge very well, and I can easily access the internet if need be. He got me a deal to where I would only have to pay $175/$200 for it, and I'd get a $100 mail in rebate. The best part was, I didn't have to pay a dime to start the line up, AND he waived some of the charges just because I came to see him.

This is why I totally love Verizon. <3

All in all, the whole trip was successful, even though I hit a roadblock and whatever.