My mom called this afternoon quite upset, because she thought she’d broken her cell phone. She knocked it off the coffee table, it fell about a foot and landed on the wooden floor, and the back popped off and the battery fell out. I asked if she’d put the battery back in correctly and gotten the back on all the way. She said she had, but that it still wasn’t working. She was very frantic, and rightly so, because we really don’t have a spare of that model. I’d have had to downgrade her to my oldest, non-cool and brick-like, cell phone. I’m not willing to give up my other cell phone yet, and Lin’s old one is on its very last legs.

Then I asked her whether she’d turned it on or not. Uh huh.

See, I know when those of us with some gadget/tech knowledge, and who might call some tech support line for assistance, get asked whether or not things are plugged in or turned on, it annoys the hell out of us, right? For us, not being plugged in or turned on is one of the first things we check. But my mother is proof that asking such seemingly silly questions can be useful, because, well, some people just don’t think about turning the damn things on. So next time some tech support person asks you something that seems like a completely stupid question, just know he’s doing a good job and don’t get upset about it. That may be the very question that solves someone else’s major crisis.