O. Mi. Gosh.

Newest episode of "Life with the 'Rents" (gotta picture this as if you are watching a sitcom on tv...)

(fade in - phone rings. Sharon answers. It's Mom.)

"Sharon, do you still have T-Mobile?"

"Yes, Mom, and so do you."

"No, we don't There's no light."

"No light?"

"On the phone."

"Whether or not you have a light, Mom, you are still with T-Mobile."

"Well, they won't let us use our phone."

"What's the problem?"

"There's no light. It isn't on."

"Have you charged it?" (mumbling in the background)

"Yes, your father says it's charged, Sharon Lee." (Peppery attitude.)

"Perhaps you should change the battery. There is an extra one in the box the phone came in. Do you have that close by?"

"Yes. We have that." (Peppery-er attitude)

"Oh, hey, Mom, is it on?"

"Why don't you talk to your father. He's telling me what to say. You talk to him." (totally exasperated)

Dad (pleasantly): "I'm actually not exactly sure what's happened with this."

"Mom said the light is not on?"

"No, it's not. There doesn't seem to be power."

"Have you charged it?"

"Well. I had it on the charger just now."

"Is it on?"

"Well, I think so. I'm pretty sure it is."

"Dad, on the phone, there should be a couple of little symbols. One is a phone headpiece that looks like it's off the hook, and one is a phone headpiece that looks like it's about to hang up. Do you see those?"

"Well, let's see. I don't know where to look for them There are lots of little things on the screen, but I can't tell what they are. They're really small."

"Well, you could use your magnifying glass for those, but, what we're looking for is buttons, not screen icons."

"Oh! Oh! Yes, I see. I found them. One on the right looks off the hook and one on the right looks like it's about to hang up."

(very slight pause) "Good. That's exactly what you need, Dad. Press the one on the right and hold it down for a moment."

"Well, okay." (musical sound of phone coming on) "Well, I'll be darned! It was off! Don't know how I did that, but I sure know how to undo it, now!"

"Can you tell if it's charged? Sometimes, it turns off because it loses charge."

"How do I know that?"

"There's an icon that looks like a D or C battery that will have a few bars in it. It needs to be filled up. Some of them have 3 bars and some have 4. Without having your phone in front of me, I can't tell which yours is."

"Well, I'm not sure where that is."

"On the screen."

"Oh, one of those little things?"

"The icons, yes. Dad, I think you should just go plug it in and leave it there to be sure you have plenty of charge."

"Good idea. I'll do that. So, it was as simple as turning this little gadget on, huh?" (chuckles)

"Yup. But, you never can be sure what the problem is 'til you trouble shoot it. I just happened to start with the easiest thing and we bingoed."

"We sure did."

"Well, Dad, I just got out of a meeting and I need to get these notes down. I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"

"Okay, Sweetheart, we'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you guys, too. Bye."

"Bye-bye."

(Shot of Sharon banging head against the desk as we fade out)