Use It or Else

Today’s mobile communication would have been viewed as just a fantasy five years ago.  Inventions continually alter the way we contact each other and it is certain that the future will deliver revolutionary inventions. 

Advances in wireless technology are fueling a wave of innovation that connects people, places and things in meaningful new ways. To expedite these untapped discoveries, Verizon has implemented “innovation centers” to change the way we live, work and play. It is in these futuristic environments that visionary concepts are continually being pioneered at Verizon.

But practical ideas are also being launched for us common folk.  For example, cell phone data plans used to be expensive and wasteful.  Most carriers implemented a rule that required a person to use all their minutes in a month.  If they had leftover data or mobile phone minutes, they were lost to you forever and ever and fell into a big black hole.

It got us to thinking about what other things we encounter  that we lose if we don’t use them.  So here’s our list:

1. Milk
We’ve all had the same nasty experience.  The sun is barely rising and your eyes are still glued shut from lack of slumber as you stumble into the kitchen.  Sauntering over to the refrigerator you grab the carton of milk to add this liquid refreshment to your coffee or cereal.  As you pour it, you peak out of one eye and discover that lumpy, foul smelling fluid is oozing out of the container.  It has absolutely no resemblance to milk.  Seems this batch expired and since you didn’t use it, you lose it.

2. Celebration Bubbly
You’ve been squirrelling away that bottle of sparkling wine for a special occasion since you received it on the occasion of your 21st date of birth.  And today, twelve years later, as you were proclaimed a full partner in your firm and viewed your name on the letterhead for the first time, you determined that this was the perfect moment to toast your mammoth achievement.

Family and a few friends gathered in your cozy abode to observe you pop the cork.  It was a sweet, sweet sound.  Glasses are poured and without warning, you spit out the first taste of the bubbly into your grandmother’s face.  The precious liquid had turned sour and tasted like vinegar.  You wish you had used it before you lost it.

3. Hi-Lighter
Remember those thick marker-like pens in neon yellow that became a necessity for studying? Their pitch was “Hi-Lighters Replace Underlining.”  They even touted the wonderful feature of being able to highlight “stock pages and racing forms.” 

The problem with Hi-Lighters is that if you didn’t use them, they dried up and made a hideous squeaking sound across the page.  Of course, nowadays, most everything, including thick college textbooks is read on line.

4. Perfume and Cologne
I once received a magnificent bottle of perfume directly from France from my dear uncle.  It was a frosted glass sculpted flagon that contained a lightly colored pink liquid.  I imagined it would smell like rose petals from heaven. 

I saved and saved this sentimental gift until a few years later when e a very special celebration took place.  As I went to open the grand and glorious fragrance that I had been hoarding, the liquid had disappeared.  The perfume had evaporated and all that was left was a lingering scent from the City of Lights. I should have used it before I lost it.

There is one thing that you never have to worry about losing if you don’t use it.  T-Mobile is the only national carrier that lets you roll any unused data you paid for into the next month, at no extra charge.

No more “use it or lose it.” Instead, with T-Mobile, their motto is, “you don’t lose what you don’t use.”  Pretty catchy, right? And a huge benefit to all of us on a tight budget.

Wireless communication provides enormous benefits for everyday life and more useful payment plans and programs are only the beginning.