The floor rushed upward with bludgeoning force. Its solid, hard ferocity was a stark contrast to the cushioning lushness of the carpet only inches away. A maw of destruction waiting to devour its quarry lay still with gnashing teeth waiting eagerly. I could only watch in paralyzed horror, hoping for the best while knowing the worst was coming. This was a day I’d dreaded but never truly believed it would come.

The Apple iPhone XR is a beautiful piece of technology. It’s colorful, responsive, and sleek. Many would argue the XR is the pinnacle marriage of design and mobile technology, and the device is priced accordingly. As such, most people wisely ensconce their investment in a case and affix a screen protector. Cases, however, hide a device’s beauty and can turn “sleek” into “brick-like”. The expense of a new phone every year is completely unreasonable, so taking appropriate measures to give some confidence for longevity is a logical course of action.

For ninety-percent of my XR ownership, around seven months, I too was one of these smart people. My downfall was the purchase of a new vehicle with a wireless charging feature. I wanted to take advantage of this functionality but couldn’t with the existing case, so the case came off. The case, came off.

Woe is the man who puts design before function. Woe is me. The XR is sleek which means it’s slippery. My soft city hands could never hold it well without the case. I knew this but disregarded close calls and near-drops with reckless abandon. I now lament my carelessness, for it was a catch on the pocket that forced the XR from hand and sent it on its spiraling downward journey.

Thwack. It landed not with a deafening thud but with a plasticy smack. A cheaper, weaker sound than one would expect from such a monetarily heavy item. The XR landed on its corner. Cracks reached across the phone from the impact’s epicenter like boney fingers reaching out from a crypt. Pristine became tarnished. Beautiful became plain. I became upset. For all the care I give to not only my possessions but also those of others, here I sit with a maligned display. When the screen is black, everything looks good. When the lights come on, as with last call, appearances are shattered. I’m not one to get a new phone every year. This unfortunate change in circumstances, however, may force me to welcome the next flagship device whether it’s from Apple, Samsung, Google, or others.

In the grand opera that is life, the dropping of a phone and a cracking of the screen isn’t even a cough in the audience. Yet, for a Saturday in June, it was thankfully the most concerning moment of the day. Tomorrow will be the first day of acceptance in growing to love my imperfect little beauty of an iPhone XR, and I will look to tackle the true challenges that life may present. No, do not weep for me and my busted phone, for that would be shallow and ridiculous. Take this all with a sense of humor, and feel relief that there are klutzes out in the world. Lastly, the morals of this story are to take care and protect your stuff, don’t let beauty dictate action, and iPhones are weak (Motorola Razr 4eva). These are not revolutionary thoughts, but life always finds a way to make its point.