The other day I heard a rather amusing update on the old adage about a friend in need. I received it from a rather cynical old friend, therefore with the sense of sarcasm. Whether it was intended for me I did not bother to ask, but anyway here it is.

“A friend in need is a bloody nuisance!”

I have to admit I did chuckle a bit when I read it. After a few moments I had one of those sub-conscious moments, where you go over what you have just heard or read and re-analyse it! It brought to mind a painful reminder of just what a nuisance a friend in need can actually be and just why I took out mobile phone insurance cover in the first place.

We had all decided to go to our local pub to watch the match. It was a big local derby game between Manchester City and Manchester United. We were pretty evenly split between supporting either club so there was plenty of banter. As you can imagine, we were all in high spirits in anticipation of the match starting when my mate came over to me and asked if he could borrow my mobile phone. Evidently, he had ‘forgotten’ to tell his wife where he was going and he thought better of it when he had arrived at the pub, especially as he had noticed that some of her friends were in the next room!

No problem I thought and happily lent him my phone. He nipped outside so we could not hear what he was saying. The match started and we got embroiled in the atmosphere to the extent that I forgot about my phone. When half-time came I noticed that he was not anywhere to be seen.

When the match finished, I went round to his house to see what had happened and collect my phone. Imagine my horror when he said that he had nipped back in after using it and put it on the shelf next to where I was standing! I telephoned the pub, but they had not found it. Cutting out the shouting and angry bits of the story, I called the company where I got my mobile phone insurance cover and after a brief explanation organized a claim and replacement handset along with my saved numbers.

What are friends for? Just remember your other friend sometimes, your mobile phone that you sometimes take for granted.