Little (cell phone) shop of horrors

Cell phone shopping: More fun than sharing a 6 x 6 room with angry hornets. More dangerous, too - at least to one's sanity and one's wallet.

Would the Nadels stay with Sprint, which has been decent the last year or two after a rough start to our relationship? Or would we switch to Verizon, which most experts say has better service but which also costs quite a bit more? Would we go with basic phones or with so-called smart phones that are, well, smarter than the average freelance journalist? Would we buy at my favorite retailer, Costco, where Sprint products no longer are sold? Or would we go to Best Buy, which I used to hate but actually has intelligent, caring, non-commission salespeople at the store that's within walking distance of our abode?

I spent months pondering the above questions. I hate the very idea of expensive cell phone service. I hate having to pay upwards of 2 grand a year for something that wasn't even in the budget just a decade ago. I also hate being locked into a two-year contract again after we finally had become free agents.

And then there was the research. Oy.

One of the great things about the Internet is that there is an endless supply of information and opinions available on every product known to man, woman, child and beast. One of the horrible things about the Internet is that there is an endless supply of information and opinions available on every product known to man, woman, child and beast. It's enough to make one's bald head spin.

With my wife and daughter pushing me to make a damn decision already because they were the ones who had the most obsolete cell phones still in use on Planet Earth - Horrors! Katie's phone wouldn't hold a charge! Horrors! Roberta's phone had a slight echo! - this finally was the day.

We ended up staying with Sprint and buying three phones at Best Buy. Our new plan will cost us about $35 a month more than our old - something I wanted to avoid given the fact that my freelance pay is about a fifth of what my regular-job pay once was. But hey, as the saying goes, it's only money (we used to have).

I'd love to blame the big-bucks purchase all on my ladies, but I was the one who ended up with the most expensive phone of the three. Go figure.

Aside from answering and making calls, my new Samsung Moment is a complete mystery to me. I'm a pretty quick study, though, so I'll figure the thing out soon enough. If my daughter helps me, that is.

Still, I think that next time I'll opt for that hornet-filled room instead.