The lost battle

Last weekend, I was briefly a popular person in Saxony Switzerland.

My friends and I had gone paddle-boating in a lake. We took pictures, we ate lunch on the boat, it was fun. Like good Germans, we touched the shore a minute before the rental period ended. As I got up from my seat to step out, I heard a thud. Suddenly my pocket felt lighter. The phone, where is it? As my eyes focused from the boat's surface to the ground underwater, I saw the familiar rectangular edges. My phone was at the bottom of the lake.

But I can see it. So it must not be too deep. How difficult can it be to get it out! With zero regard to the bystanders, I took off my clothes and jumped in the water. Bad idea! I couldn't see a thing and it was deeper than I anticipated. The jumping part made it worse. It disturbed the water and the phone got covered by dirt.

The boat attendant came with a long pitchfork. "Get in the boat and look from directly above the water", he said. It worked, I could see part of the phone. We roared in (premature-) celebration. All I had to do now was drag it to the shallow waters with the pitchfork. Gently, slowly. But the surface at lake's bottom was not hard. With every nudge, the ground underneath the phone came undone and covered it with dirt even further. Before it could reach the shores, the phone had disappeared, taking with it the last of my hopes. After half an hour of blind guessing, I finally gave up. Three years worth of pictures gone. Linking bank accounts to new sim card will be a pain in the neck. At least the contacts are cloud-synced. 

On the way back, a group of hikers passed us. "It's the same guy", whispered one. I smiled at them, they chuckled sympathetically. (I should check if there are any 'stupid guy jumps in the water' videos trending.)

After a silent journey back home, I got time to reflect. Then it dawned upon me-- the perfect solution. My friends could have pinned down the phone with the pitchfork while we could still see it. Then I could have jumped in the water again, swam down along the length of the pitchfork and retrieve it, instead of shooting in the dark. 

That post-facto realization was the worst thing about the whole episode. The opportunity was long gone. Why didn’t I think of it when it mattered! Any way, things to learn: think of all options before acting, backup data regularly and most importantly, take care of your phone when you go boating.

Rest in peace, dear phone.