When I Broke my Mother’s Vase

College was a turbulent time in my life; I think a lot of people can agree that the early high school and early college years are among the most life-changing experiences. I believe the reason for this can be traced back to the fact that we are in a process of molding our character while building friendships and relationships with strangers. In an effort to speed up the socializing process, I decided to throw a small party in my house when I was a freshman in college. What I did not take into account was that most of my guests were definitely more seasoned than I was. I was always a late bloomer in high school and ‘’crazy drinking’’, substance abuse, and overall recklessness were never things I entertained.

When the guys started coming in, it was calm at first (almost adult-like) but once the alcohol kicked in and the more outgoing characters arrived, it’s like their inner ‘’beasts’’ were unleashed! Perhaps I am exaggerating a little bit but the worst things I had seen in those early 2000s teen movies were excessive drinking and some unholy activities in the bedroom. Thankfully the latter did not happen but the former did, and my mother’s ornament collection suffered the consequences (deeply).

My mother traveled to Africa and Europe after college to gain a better understanding of the world, to see new cultures and meet new people. As mementos, she brought back many souvenirs including shot glasses, vases, necklaces, earrings and much more. One of her favorite pieces was a horizontally striped black and white vase that had been a gift by a villager. She adored it; it was a beautiful decorative glass piece. Sadly, it was oval which made my friends think of it as a football worth tossing around. Unbeknownst to me, they proceeded to play with it right on my living room and sure enough after a few ‘’missed catches’’ the vase broke and I was left alone with the dreadful task of explaining the incident to my mom.

She was naturally livid, grounded me for what seemed like all eternity and demanded her piece fixed. I made some inquiries and found out there was a solution with a glass repair company in my area. I took it over to them, and they determined it could be fixed. To this day I still wonder what procedure they used which was clearly not just superglue but they returned it in pristine shape only showing slight marks of the previous wreckage. Thank Goodness and glass repair. 

The broken screen on my iPhone

Around the turn of the century, cell phones were really starting to become popular. Before that, wires, public phones and pagers were entrusted with the function of helping people communicate. This all changed over two decades ago when satellites and antennas joined together in further developing the fastest era of growth for communication platforms. The development pace was breathtaking, but I was even more surprised when a man by the name of Steve Jobs walked into a lonely stage, dressed in a black turtle neck jeans and running shoes unveiling to the world what would become arguably the most innovative gadget of the decade.

Mr. Jobs’ phone design was without question revolutionary but it was also quite frail. As a matter of fact its latest update the iPhone 5s and its predecessor the iPhone 4 were mostly glass protected by a thin film very much like that on car windshields to avoid cracking easily. Apparently the film on my phone was not thick enough or maybe I was not as careful in its handling as the users’ manual indicated. On one of those ‘’hand-slippery’’ days, I dropped my phone right in the hard concrete of my house’s parkway. 

The back of my phone broke right on the spot. I heard the crack and I knew it hadn’t gone well. I asked a friend and she said the same thing had happened to her and that all I had to do was to take my phone into an Apple Store for either glass repair or replacement. I was ecstatic since I never really though highly of those thick and glossy phone covers. I considered my default factory-made crystal to be the perfect touch for the perfect product:  Mr. Jobs ‘iPhone.

I went with the glass repair option or more accurately, that’s all the Apple Store gave me, but man, it was a great relief to see my most precious gadget get fixed!

The convenience of glass replacement

My boyfriend then went on to tell me how he had noticed that I was very clumsy and then asked if I knew what the problem was. I said no and that they were mostly knee jerk reactions or no reactions at all. Ever since that incident, I have been very careful to have my apartment (as small as it may be) looking pristine, without marks or dents and with all my crystals looking absolutely perfect. Now I know that if an accident happens again, all I have to do is pick up the phone and glass replacement will always be an option either to fix or improve my mirrors.

I have always been a little clumsy. I can’t figure out why but I always seem to be slipping, dropping stuff or even involuntarily throwing objects. This last event happened to me a couple of months ago on the eve of my birthday; I had some friends over that night and we had quite a few drinks. At one point, I felt like going to the bathroom and did not have one of my lady friends come with me (like I usually do). So there I am trying to take off my jeans but I realize my phone was in my hand so I quickly turn back to put it next to the faucet and next thing I know, it just flew out of my hand and straight into my bathroom mirror!

The next morning, I woke up and did not remember much from the night before; I go to the bathroom to shower and witness in total shock that my mirror was broken! It all started to come back (the memories of course) and I put two and two together and realized an accident had happened. I called my boyfriend and mentioned the incident, he said he was going to help me fix it and called a glass replacement company. I had no idea it was that easy, but they came in, did some measurements and I had my glass replacement done the next day.

Protect Your Table!

A couple of months ago, my little boy decided to have some friends over (HUGE mistake). They all seemed extremely well mannered at first, even nervous perhaps but boy… that did not last long! First, they started playing with my ornaments, then my LCD flat screen and finally, my all-so-treasured gadgets… that was pretty much boiling point for me, so I had them all sit down at our wooden table to do what I considered was a harmless activity, both to my home’s infrastructure and of course their safety. I handed them all some drawing books, crayons and pencils (mistake number two). Since I assumed what I had them doing was safe, I decided to rest a little and watch T.V. (mistake number 3). Within twenty minutes, they were pretty much done coloring (serious efficiency for sure!).

The little rascals went on to bring my son’s heavy toys from upstairs (the trucks, cars and other toys with sharp edges and wheels) when I went back to check up on them, my precious and delicate wooden table was completely filled with scratches! I had to make sure I didn’t lose it in from of them, although I was livid. After they left, I weighed in my options and decided a replacement was too expensive so I went with an alternative suggested by a good friend of mine. I had a glass table top installed on my table; it was also tinted so there was really no hint of the damage done by the little ones. Besides, it did make the table look a lot better! Talk about collateral damage (in reverse).

Glass table tops are underrated, people talk so much about the beauty of wood which I won’t argue with since I completely concur with their arguments, but, they are so delicate and there is just no way you can assure they will not suffer serious damage whenever kids join the household. Let’s not even go that far, I had a friend who would put tools, books, boots, keys and all kinds of things! I mean his table looked like one of those walls from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie! Obviously I let my careless pal know about this affordable protective glass table top system and both he and his wife could not be happier.

I am also 100% positive my kids are pretty happy with my investment. I just hope they don’t break it now!