The Loud One
(A phone shop on Byres Road in Glasgow, Tuesday, ten past four. Two phones sit on the counter with their labels turned toward the customer.)
Ruth: They look the same to me.
Nathan: Different brands, but yes, from the front they're nearly the same. The main contrast is what's inside. This one is the newer product — bigger screen, better camera, and it charges in about half an hour.
Ruth: And the other one?
Nathan: Unlike the first one, this one has a smaller screen. But the battery lasts longer. Two days, easily.
Ruth: How much longer?
Nathan: In real use? About a day.
Ruth: And the price?
Nathan: Two hundred and ten pounds, or three hundred and forty. That's the quote for the phone on its own. The contracts are on the card behind you.
Ruth: Anything else in particular I should know?
Nathan: The camera on the newer one is about quantity. Twelve photos a second, if you hold the button down. That's the feature people ask about.
Ruth: Why would I want twelve photos of one second?
Nathan: Sport, mainly. Or children.
Ruth: My grandchildren are in Auckland. I see them on a screen on Sunday mornings.
Nathan: Then the camera doesn't suit you at all. What matters is the sound.
Ruth: What matters is that I can hear them. My last phone, I couldn't hear a thing.
Nathan: Which phone was it?
Ruth: A silver one.
Nathan: Right. Very specific.
(Nathan calls his own number twice and stands each phone on the counter, ringing.)
Nathan: That's the cheaper one. That's the other.
Ruth: The cheap one is louder.
Nathan: The cheap one is louder.
Ruth: Then why does the other one cost a hundred and thirty pounds more?
Nathan: Because of the camera. And because people buy it.
Ruth: I'll take the loud one.
Nathan: I'd take the loud one too.
Ruth: What do you use?
Nathan: A phone they stopped making in 2021.
Ruth: Is it loud?
Nathan: It's the loudest thing in this shop.