Theo works at a hardware store. The store sells tools, paint, wood, and screws. Theo likes his job very much. He helps customers every day. One morning, Theo is standing near the paint section. He is waiting for a customer. His phone is in his pocket. Suddenly, his phone rings. It is a video call from his manager, Rita. Theo takes out his phone and answers the call. "Hello, Rita! Can you hear me?" he says. Rita's face appears on the screen. She looks serious. "Theo, I need to tell you something important," she says. Theo stands up straight and listens carefully. He feels a little nervous. Rita starts to speak. "Theo, we have a big problem with the new order of—" Then the screen freezes. Rita's face stops moving.

Her mouth is open. She looks very funny. Theo taps the screen with his finger. Nothing happens. "Rita? Rita, can you hear me?" he says. But there is no sound. The internet in the store is very slow that day. A customer walks over to Theo. The customer wants to buy some nails. "Excuse me," the customer says. "Where are the nails?" Theo looks at the frozen screen. He looks at the customer. He feels very confused. "Sorry, one moment please," Theo says to the customer. He shakes his phone. He turns it off and on again. Rita's face is still frozen on the screen. Her mouth is still open. Theo laughs quietly to himself.

After one minute, the video call starts working again. Rita is still talking. "...so we need fifty more boxes by Friday," she says. She does not know the call was frozen. "Did you hear everything I said, Theo?" Rita asks. Theo feels embarrassed. He does not want to tell Rita that the screen was frozen. "Yes, of course!" Theo says quickly. But he did not hear anything. He only heard "a big problem with the new order." After the call ends, Theo thinks hard. He walks to the computer at the front desk. He looks at the store's order list. He finds the new order. He reads it carefully. Then he understands what Rita needed. He picks up his phone and calls Rita back. "Rita, I think we need fifty more boxes. Is that right?" Rita laughs. "Yes, Theo! Well done!" she says.

Theo had been working at the hardware store for three years, and he prided himself on always being prepared. One quiet Tuesday morning, while he was restocking shelves in the paint section, his phone buzzed with an incoming video call from his manager, Rita. He wiped his hands on his apron and answered promptly, propping the phone against a tin of white paint so that he could see her clearly. Rita's expression was unusually tense. "Theo, I need to walk you through something urgent regarding the new supplier order," she began, her voice crisp and businesslike. Theo leaned forward slightly, giving her his full attention, sensing that whatever she was about to say could affect the whole week's schedule. Rita had barely finished her opening sentence when her image locked completely, her mouth frozen mid-word in a rather unfortunate expression.

The store's internet connection had been unreliable all morning, and now it had chosen the worst possible moment to give up entirely. Theo tapped the screen repeatedly, muttered "Rita? Rita, are you still there?" and even restarted the app, but the call refused to recover. To make matters worse, a customer appeared at his elbow asking where the sandpaper was kept. Theo smiled apologetically, pointed the customer in the right direction, and then stared back at his phone in frustration. After what felt like an age but was probably only ninety seconds, the connection suddenly restored itself, and Rita was mid-sentence again, clearly unaware that anything had gone wrong. "...which means we absolutely must confirm the quantity before the delivery window closes," Rita concluded, looking at him expectantly.

Theo hesitated for just a moment, weighing his options. He could admit that the call had frozen and ask her to repeat everything, or he could try to piece together what she had said from the fragments he had caught. Deciding that honesty was the more professional approach, he took a breath and said, "Rita, I have to be upfront with you — the connection dropped and I missed part of what you said. Could you give me a quick summary?" Rita sighed, but she smiled shortly after. "I appreciate you telling me, Theo. It happens to all of us," she said, and patiently repeated the key details. From that point on, Theo kept a notepad beside him whenever he took important calls at the store.