I used to be careful, but upon scratching my N73 (when doing something stupid with it, of course), I thought the damage added distinction and personality, so I don’t mind, so long as the damage does not get in the way of using the device.
A story
Oh, I have loads. From getting my N95 crushed in the car door, to my N81 (pictured) constantly falling out of the hole in my back pocket (caused, indeed by the phones themselves), to watching how phones just don’t last with pre-teens.
I even got a story of a guy in Chandigarh, India who dropped his Nokia 3250 in a lake and patiently nursed it back to full working condition.
Wow.
Your story
I do not think I’ve seen all the possible ways people have mangled, damaged, modified, or added ‘character’ (on purpose or by accident) to their phone.
So, why don’t you tell me and amaze me. Try to avoid friend of a friend stories. I really want to hear from you, since I know that each one of us have at least one unbelievable story on how we abuse our little friends, our trusty mobile phones. And kudos to those of you who actually managed to resurrect your devices.
Shoot away!
By the way, I’ve retired the N81 (in the picture) and now am using an N85 that is trembling with fear of what I will do with it. What it doesn’t know is that I have a Nokia 1209 on order that I want to use, but that’s a story for another day.