Not Holding My Breath

Just as everyone in Shanghai has left their wallet in a taxi, so have they lost their phone. Now I can join the ranks.

In China, you purchase your phone at full price. You then purchase your phone number and your minutes. From that point on, your phone and your phone number belong to you and you just pay for your minutes. If you buy a cheap phone and don't lose it, its a good deal. I bought an expensive phone, and lost it after about 3 months. That's $200 for the phone plus maybe $50 for minutes over the last 3 months - around $80 a month for my cell phone plan so far.

That makes me feel better - I was paying $75 a month for a phone I used much less regularly in the states.

Dave and I celebrated our anniversary this evening, with babysitters, shopping, dinner and dessert. In the cab coming home, I reached for my phone to tell the girls we were on our way. My phone was gone. The last time I used it was calling Dave from the first cab, at the beginning of the evening. I've no way to track down that cab, or to find the phone.

When I got home, I told our babysitters that I'd lost my phone. They told stories about how they had each lost 3 phones, and their parents had lost a few as well. That made me feel better, too.

We called the phone, and it said it was powered off. That means that someone took out the SIM card and will plug a new phone number into the phone. Picking up your phone in a cab makes for a really good monthly rate.

And while cab drivers always return wallets, they never return phones.

Next time, I'll buy a cheaper phone.

And back up my phone book.