Greatest final endings in history, go.

Who Shot JR?

“The Usual Suspects.”

End of “The Sopranos.”

Last episode of “MASH.”

I. Am. Your. Father…..

Allow me to add to your list.

I had to purchase a new iPhone yesterday. The phone I have used and loved and taken care of since 2017 is kaput.

It’s tough for me to admit defeat, because I tend to be a lot of words that end in “s.” Relentless. Tenacious. Assiduous. Sedulous. Zealous. So for me to march into the phone store and nod my head like a sheep and agree to a new phone was tough tough tough.

There’s no real story to tell here. Apple won. They took away my camera, my voice texting, my autocorrect, my charge port, my GPS, and yesterday, my ability to make and receive phone calls. They played their hand and won.

Or did they?

Once the AT&T techs established that my phone had suffered irreparable damage and could not be salvaged, I looked them square in the eye, and told them to bring up my account. I tried to stand behind them as they were on the computer, but I was rebuffed.

“Sorry, ma’am, we’re not allowed to have customers stand behind us as we’re pulling up accounts,” the technician said sheepishly.

I moved quickly to the front.

“I’m sorry, I’ll stand in front.”

“Or,” he said, smiling, “you could sit down and relax.”

“Oh, well, I have a problem with sitting down and relaxing. Mind if I stand?”

“No problem. So what would you like me to do with your account?”

“Delete.”

“Delete?”

“Delete. Delete stuff until the price of the new phone does not raise my phone bill.”

And they did. They deleted stuff until I left with a new phone AND a lower phone bill. Yep, you heard that right. It took three hours of my time, but I stood in that store while those nice boys played around with the computer and crunched numbers until they got my phone bill forty dollars lower than it was.

To the victor belong the spoils.

So as you glide into your weekend, never forget that sometimes, hidden in your worst fears, is a prize. And sometimes, the obstacle IS the way.