Anecdote

Writing is something that I have a lot of difficulty doing. Bottom line, I stink. Nonetheless I've decided I want to start getting better at it and this anecdote is my first attempt at something decent. It's been edited heavily by someone much more capable than I.

"COULD I HAVE YOUR NUMBER?"

The other day I was watching TV with a friend when a beer commercial came on that showed a girl giving her phone number to a guy she just met. She wrote it on a napkin rather than give it orally for the guy to punch into his phone. My friend said, “Putting it in the phone is so much easier than just writing it down.” I said, “What if he didn’t have a cellphone?” This was not the first time my friend and I had disputes. Oftentimes we’d argue for so long we’d forget what topic we started with. “It’s impractical,” he said. “My grandpa is the only person I know who still carries around a pad and pen and that’s because he’s too senile to operate a cell.”
So I said, "Once I was at a bar when I spotted a beautiful girl across the room. Working up the nerve I went over to talk to her. Fifteen minutes, one drink and a couple successful jokes later she said she needed to head out but asked if I wanted to get together again sometime. Obviously I said yes, and using my cellphone I got her number and she left. A bit later, when I was walking drunkenly down the stairs outside I missed the last step and my phone dropped to the street and it smashed upon impact. I could've been sitting here today in a long-term relationship with whats-her-face if I had just written her number down on a piece of paper or napkin.”
I sat back and folded my arms.
"OK, but what if it was raining?” he said. “You could be walking outside with that napkin or paper in hand and it could fall in a puddle, smudging the ink beyond recognition. Did you ever think of that?"
“Look – the chances of you actually remembering the number are a lot greater after both seeing it and hearing it. Obviously that would be the most dependable route to go."
"Whatever," my friend responded, "you and I both know you've never successfully chatted up an attractive girl.”
I sat back again, this time with something important to think about.