I'll never know why everyone doesn't have a screen protector on their smartphone.

It's immensely cheap. It generally costs something like $10 for a pack of 2 or 3 - $10 each for the really premium ones made with gorilla glass and heavy duty materials.

And yes, putting them on can be a pain. 90% of the time it feels like you've been thrown into emergency surgery, and you're the only one who can save the patient. Oh, and you skipped medical school.

I just changed the screen protector on my phone this evening. I couldn't believe the before-and-after.

I was convinced my phone was on its last legs - there were these dirty, scratchy fray marks all over the top right section of the phone from when I dropped it in the rainy, dirty ground while walking Riley. There was this unseemly blemish on the left side, probably from when I dropped it on the hard floor of the kitchen. It just looked ragged.

I had one last protector left (thanks, pack of 3 for $9) and was ready to use it.

(On a side note, this gives me a good excuse to turn off my phone, which I never, ever, ever do. But it's good for the phone. So double bonus and Merry Christmas me.)

To my dumbfounded delight, I peel off the dingy screen protector to reveal what must be a brand new phone, factory direct. (This works when you apply a screen protector just after ordering the phone, before you start using it.)

I couldn't believe my eyes.

So, to recap:

• It kept my phone's screen safe from cracking through many, many cringeworthy drops

• In total, I used 3 different protectors - essentially giving my phone's screen 3 lives (plus however many more I'll need) - it's like a 1-up mushroom for your phone!

• It saves me from having to pull out a phone with a cracked screen - I know this works for most people, but I'm just too much of a perfectionist (read: vain?) to be able to go through with it.

• It all cost me 9 bucks, and maybe 15 total minutes of labor.

Now that's a return on investment.

Everyone has a smartphone. Why doesn't everyone have a screen protector?