It is nearly impossible to find someone who genuinely enjoys talking on the phone with Apple Care. Anyone who has to call Apple Care is already annoyed because something is either broken or malfunctioning and the last thing they want to do is sit on hold for an hour and then listen to someone spew a bunch of technical talk at them that they probably don’t understand. Like it or not, though, most people have to call Apple Care at some point and as someone who has spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with them recently I have learned a thing or two.

You really don’t need to download that movie.

Out of five calls to Apple Care in the past two weeks, four have ended in a warning to not fill up my storage and quickly I learned - I don’t need to download that movie. Whatever movie it is, it’s probably on Netflix. Downloading that movie really is not worth the headache or the lecture from the Genius. Also, the little trash can in the corner of your screen? Yeah, empty that. Like really soon. Because as I have also recently learned, that takes up A LOT of space. So just when you get the chance, clear that out.

Never, ever listen to the music they offer you when you’re on hold. Ever.

It sucks. Apple offers three different choices of music while you wait and none of them are worth it. It took me three calls to realize I should just pick the silent option and play my own music in the background. When you’re 40 minutes into your wait, you’ll be happy you aren’t listening to a low-quality version of a song you’ve never heard before.

You can accomplish A LOT when you’re on hold.

My time on hold is probably my most productive time in the day. Confined to my room while I wait for a voice to appear on the other end of the line I’ve been able to do my laundry, read three chapters, write half an essay, vacuum my room, organize my closet, and complete an ab workout.

The people on the other end of the phone have a life also, ask them about it.

Many of my calls included excruciating moments of awkward silence while something downloaded on my computer, and sitting listening to each other breathe during these moments is extremely uncomfortable. On one call, though, I happened to be talking to an extremely chatty person – which at times was annoying – but in these moments was very helpful. He asked me where I went to school and what I was studying and he told me about his college experiences and where his life is headed now. It can be easy to think about the people on the other end as zombies who lack personality, but if you actually talk to them you can hear some pretty cool stories.

Calling Apple care is never going to be anyone’s favorite activity. But since it’s pretty much unavoidable, you might as well make the call as painless as possible. Just embrace the experience and you might even learn a thing or two.