Growing old usually means providing oneself with a lot of new tools they aren’t used to using or needing – let alone budgeting for. And nothing can make taking care of business harder than needing to both learn and use technology in order to get it right. For many elderly people, the telephone was as advanced an invention as they ever planned to use. And for this one senior woman, even that was too much this time.

But after she dialed the wrong number, the unsuspecting people at the end of the line were in for a little surprise.

Bernice is a senior from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she’s been in the market for a new walker for her weary bones for quite some time now. But when she recently tried to get in touch with the medical supply store that could fix her up, she ended up leaving her order on the voicemail for the local Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office instead.

Employee Kyle Hartstock got the message – and was so moved and concerned by the senior’s simple message that he knew something had to be done. He played it for the rest of his team so that they could brainstorm together. “I put it on speaker and played it for everybody because it was a different kind of missed call, and it was kind of cute and humorous at the same time,” he explained.

First, he called her back to let her know that her message hadn’t gone where it was meant to go. Poor Bernice seemed unsure of what had gone wrong, or how to continue to get what she needed. And Kyle wasn’t ready to give up on the sweet senior.

Instead of leaving her to fend for herself, Kyle and all of his office staff friends decided to get Bernice what she needs so they wouldn’t keep worrying about her. Everybody pitched in a bit of cash – and then decided to show up at the home of the senior with the surprise.

It’s a good thing they work at a legal office with access to that kind of information!

Although Bernice tried to pay the staff back for the walker, they wouldn’t hear any of it – but after a long and heartwarming round of hugs from each person who was part of the surprise, she realized that the real gift they gave her was priceless.

You’d be forgiven for forgetting this pair up even happened — we know we’ve tried to. There was always a certain playful banter between the two, but the focus of the show was always on Rachel and Ross. Except for that brief, unfortunate moment when Rachel and Joey decided to get together. In the end, they realized they weren’t quite right for each other — something the writers should have noticed earlier.

How do you improve upon perfection? Nothing could get better than Derek and Meredith, and their relationship early in the series has defined Meredith’s love life for the rest of the show. Sadly, that means that no one else quite seems to measure up. They tried it with Deluca, but the chemistry just wasn’t there. Sometimes the original really is the best.

Theirs was a love that destroyed the Republic and brought a Galaxy to its knees — or, at least, that was the idea. You wouldn’t know it from watching the Star Wars prequels, though. Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen delivered a fine performance, but together they just couldn’t make it work. The spark wasn’t there, and — yes, we’re going there — the Force just wasn’t with them, either.

The story of Edward and Bella was supposed to be a reimagining of the classic literary romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy — and in the books, you could just about see it. Unfortunately, in the film, there just wasn’t the same kind of connection between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Which is weird, because off-screen their romance was supposedly scorching. Sometimes that just doesn’t translate to the screen.

To be fair, Jackie dated just about everybody at some point — it was kind of her thing. Some made more sense than others, and some definitely had more of a spark than others… but some of them, not so much. Unfortunately, in the film, there just wasn’t the same kind of connection between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Which is weird, because off-screen their romance was supposedly scorching. Sometimes that just doesn’t translate to the screen.

This is another weird one, because the whole point of the film was to showcase the very real relationship between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and bring their off-screen chemistry to film. There are a lot of reasons that this is regarded as one of the world’s worst movies, and a big part of it was the lack of chemistry between the main characters — in what was supposed to be a rom-com.

Angelina Jolie? Johnny Depp? What a pair! If you went into this movie expecting sparks to fly you were probably disappointed — two of the world’s most talented actors turned out to not click so well together after all. Despite a plot full of high stakes crime and corruption, the romantic tension just wasn’t there to tie it all together. From one side of the world to the other, you can’t force sparks to fly if they just aren’t there.

It was the biggest will-they-won’t-they of many a teen’s life, second only to Ross and Rachel. Joey and Dawson, Dawson and Joey. Friends since they were just kids, the two were thrown together and then torn apart more times than we can count. In the end, though, it just didn’t end up working out — and that’s probably for the best. We might not have been able to believe it if the two of them had ended up together.

Ginny’s crush on Harry is a major part of the plot in the Chamber of Secrets, and though Harry doesn’t reciprocate at first, the romance eventually starts to blossom — though maybe not so much on screen. There was a lot of plot from the books to fit into a limited number of movie hours, we suppose, so they couldn’t really cover the story of how Harry and Ginny’s relationship developed. Sadly, it shows — the magic just wasn’t there.

Gatsby’s yearning for Daisy is a central part of both book and film, tied in with themes of loss, unrequited love, and the inevitable onward march of time. So you would hope their romance would light up the screen. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the case. That green light in the distance shone bright, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan gave killer performances, as usual, but together it didn’t quite work.

Some films have a romantic subplot that makes perfect sense, but when played out on screen doesn’t quite strike audiences as being authentic. Rachel and Bruce were, arguably, not one of those romances. Not only did Katie Holmes and Christian Bale not have much chemistry, but the romance between their characters didn’t really work well either. It’s definitely not the most memorable part of a trilogy, which is otherwise known for some exceptional performances.

Grey’s Anatomy is back on the list, and this time it’s George and Izzie in the spotlight. What was going on there, exactly? We wanted the best for both of them, but we’re not so sure this relationship counts. Well, thankfully there’s so much more to love about the show — and this one happened very early on in the series. One relationship with fizzled chemistry isn’t going to turn us away any time soon.

Who has time for romance when you’re on the run from a zombie horde? Although, on the other hand, when you’re on the run from a zombie horde you probably need the distraction. There’s more than one way to keep your heart beating. When it comes to Rick and Michonne, what was distracting was their lack of chemistry. There was definitely something there, but whether it was enough of a spark for a believable relationship is another question.

Some events are larger than life, with consequences that echo through history. Pearl Harbor is a film that follows one such event, and the scope for drama in this topic is immense. It’s a story that everyone knows well, and we still feel the impact to this day. So, it’s unfortunate that the relationship between the characters Rafe and Evelyn didn’t have quite the same resonance. Great events make for grand drama, and a grand drama deserves a grand romance. There’s no denying that Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale are great actors in their own rights, but together that couldn’t make their chemistry worthy of the story they were trying to tell.

Some relationships are just tacked onto a plot to give us something else to enjoy, but some are so essential to the story that you couldn’t do without them. Jane’s relationship with Rafael falls into that second category. The only thing is, the chemistry isn’t quite there. Sure, circumstances drew them together, but is that really enough to create a spark? Some may disagree, but we’re not so sure it does.

Wedding Crashers had a standout relationship, and to be totally clear, it wasn’t between John and Claire. It wasn’t the worst, don’t get us wrong — Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams are quirky enough to redeem any situation. It just wasn’t quite enough to put them on top. To be fair, though, how much chemistry would these two have needed to stand up to the likes of Vince Vaughn and Isla Fisher?

This show had a lot going for it, and thousands of us tuned in every episode so we could make it to the end, and find out the answer to that eternal mystery: How I Met Your Mother. But when it comes to Ted and Robin, wasn’t the whole point of the series that they wanted different things? That they just didn’t work well together? Oh, well — sometimes TV just doesn’t make sense.

At the core of the Fantastic Four is the relationship between Reed and Sue, whose love for each other binds them together despite the strange and life-altering events that grant them their powers. That doesn’t quite work when the spark between the two is lacking. It was as invisible as the Invisible Woman and was just too much of a stretch. Reed may be a scientific genius, but when it comes to chemistry he just didn’t have it.

The relationship between Belle and Rumpelstiltskin was, by definition, a fairytale romance. That doesn’t mean it had any chemistry, though — far from it, in fact. The “Beauty and the Beast” setup was clever, that’s true enough, but it just didn’t pan out. We believed in magic for this show, but when it came to these two the magic just wasn’t there.

Filming a sequel is always a risk — so many of them crash and burn like a runaway bus. There was plenty wrong with the second installment in the Speed series, and amongst them was the lack of chemistry between Annie and Alex. There are some on-screen romances that make your heart race, and you can’t keep up. This wasn’t one of them — there was never danger of this one running away from us.

We’re back again to the end of the world, talking about relationships that can survive a zombie apocalypse. One such relationship that we’re not so sure about is Carol and Ezekiel, who were mismatched from the beginning. They say opposites attract, and sometimes that’s true — but it’s doesn’t necessarily work that way every time. You need chemistry to make it click, and in this case it just wasn’t there. Maybe things will be different in the next apocalypse.

It’s another tale of blood-sucking creatures of the night, this time set down South in the dark corners of Louisiana. True Blood was known for its passionate pairings between vampires and their willing victims. It was less well known for the romance between Tara and Sam. Plotwise, it kind of seemed like a filler — just a match up to make up time between everything else that was going on. If you can’t believe in the chemistry, does it even exist?

Robert Pattinson was fresh from his success as a teen heartthrob in Twilight — even though that teen was over a hundred years old. He moved on to a more serious film, a love story with a more adult audience: Water for Elephants. Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon are excellent actors, and there was a lot to love about this film. It was an inspiring story of overcoming adversity — but we’re not so sure the chemistry was there.

One more from Grey’s Anatomy — this time it’s Jackson and Maggie. We met Maggie when she was avoiding all romantic entanglements, focusing instead on her medical career. When she changed her mind about all that and started dating, it kind of didn’t make much sense. Then she got together with Jackson, and that didn’t make much sense either. Maybe it could’ve made more sense if there had been more of a spark, but it lacked chemistry and just fell flat.

This one makes a lot more sense, because the lack of chemistry here was kind of the point. When Tom meets Summer he falls head over heels, and she is kinda, sorta into him, at least for a little while. Not long after, though, the couple splits and Tom is condemned to 500 days of pining and unrequited love. There wasn’t a spark, no matter how desperately he might’ve wished there was — and it takes him a while to finally accept it.

A lot of fans were really let down by the ending of How I Met Your Mother, but coming in at a close second was the outcome of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Not everyone was happy when Rebecca and Josh ending up together. Sometimes, the sparks don’t fly — other times, the sparks were never there to begin with. Sure, maybe not everyone will agree, because when it comes to chemistry everything is open to interpretation. It was fun while it lasted, at least, and arguing over the ending of a series is half the fun anyway.

When we’re watching a rom-com, or a straight-up romantic movie — or even a movie that just features a romantic couple — we want to be able to believe in them. We want to see the sparks flying and the tension heating up. Lacking chemistry doesn’t always mean that the couple falls completely flat. Sometimes it’s just like Dave and Ronnie in Couples Retreat — fine, but nothing special, and not memorable enough to really stand out.

In all of comic book history, there has never been a couple more fundamental than Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Their love story is as much a part of Superman’s persona as his big red S or his bright red underpants. Henry Cavill and Amy Adams had a lot to live up to in this film, and they just didn’t quite make it. They’re great actors, and their performances were solid — but when it comes to making sparks fly, sometimes solid just doesn’t cut it.

Veronica Mars went through a few relationships throughout the course of the show, in between solving mysteries and juggling the demands of high school — some with better chemistry than others, and some that just fell flat. The chemistry between a couple is just as much of a mystery, though there was nothing to investigate when it came to Veronica and Duncan. The sparks just weren’t there, and that’s all there was to it.

Before Game of Thrones, there was another brother-sister couple on TV, and it was just as awkward as it sounds. Okay, so they weren’t exactly brother and sister, but it sure came close — too close for comfort. Dexter and Deb is a relationship that we probably don’t need to spend much time thinking about. Sometimes, we’re all better off when the sparks aren’t there, and this is definitely one of those cases.

Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston are two incredibly lovable movie stars — we’ll go so far as to say they’re two incredibly lovable people, full stop. So put them together and the love will just multiply, right? Unfortunately not. Despite their talent as actors, and despite how they’re just so plain likable, the two didn’t work together as a couple. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much you like two people, you just can’t believe them together as a couple.

Sometimes, a simple premise is the best way to hook us into a movie. The Bachelor provided just that: Jimmie stands to inherit $100 million, but only if he can get married… tomorrow. That sounds easy enough, right? There are plenty of people who’d be keen to get in on that action. In the end, though, Jimmie and Anne work it out, which would be a romantic ending — or at least, it would be, if the couple didn’t lack chemistry.

The Doctor is a space-faring, time-traveling alien, thousands of years old, and the last of his kind. Amy Pond is a young woman living in England, and ever since she met the Doctor when she was seven years old, she thought he was an imaginary friend who she just dreamed up. This is another case where the lack of chemistry makes a lot of sense. It’s an awkward situation, and it’s meant to be. At least, we hope it was meant to be, because that’s how a lot of fans took it. Here’s a good rule for any situation: if you ever meet your imaginary friend, and it turns out he’s actually an immortal, time-traveling alien, maybe just stay friends.

As a novel, Fifty Shades of Grey sold like hotcakes — they couldn’t print them fast enough to keep up with demand. Well, that might not be entirely true, but it sure felt that way. Every woman on Earth seemed to have a couple. So the film had a lot to live up to — and it didn’t make it. Christian and Anastasia, the couple that the books are all about, just didn’t quite click, even though the couple’s intense chemistry was supposed to be the whole point.

It’s a fun idea for a movie — two assassins, each with secret identities, married to each other without the other knowing. It should come as no surprise that they end up contracted to assassinate one another. So the film had a lot to live up to — and it didn’t make it. Christian and Anastasia, the couple that the books are all about, just didn’t quite click, even though the couple’s intense chemistry was supposed to be the whole point.

Some movies have a solid plot and tell a great story, but in spite of all that, the on-screen chemistry between the main leads just doesn’t sell it. You want them to succeed, but they just don’t have what it takes to make you believe in their romance. From Justin To Kelly is, without a doubt, not one of these movies. Critics and viewers alike weren’t shy about panning this film, which starred the otherwise talented American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, and runner-up Justin Guarini. In fact, it’s widely considered one of the worst films of all time.

We want to love Jennifer Lopez in just about everything she does — really, we do. A single mother, working as a maid in the heart of Manhattan to support her ten-year-old son, is just about the most sympathetic sort of character we can think of. When it comes to her relationship with US Senate hopeful Chris, though, there’s some debate as to whether this is a rags-to-riches romance in the style of Cinderella, or a patronizing story about a woman who needs to be rescued. It doesn’t help that the two didn’t really manage to spark on-screen.

Rom-com staple Hugh Grant and the delightfully quirky Drew Barrymore are drawn together in Music and Lyrics as Alex and Sophie, a has-been pop star and a secret lyrical genius. Even if you’ve never seen this film, you can already see where it’s going — love blossoms, and romance ensues. It’s a fun idea for a movie, and it does alright for an entertaining watch. The two just don’t have a believable relationship. When the chemistry isn’t there, even a rom-com legend like Hugh Grant can’t make the sparks fly.

XXX isn’t about the romance, and it doesn’t pretend to be, but like all great action movies it has a romantic subplot. In between death-defying stunts, international political intrigue, globe-spanning high stakes adventures and plenty of fiery explosions, extreme sports star turned action hero Xander Cage finds time to form a bond with the Russian spy, Yelena. That’s got all the makings of an electrifying undercover romance, but the two didn’t quite manage to pull it off. There were plenty of thrills in this film, but the relationship between Xander and Yelena wasn’t exactly one of them.

Just about everyone knows that in 2004, Zach Braff — the quirky comedy superstar of Scrubs fame — turned his hand to directing films and released his debut, Garden State. The film was received with mixed reviews, and sparked a lot of controversy at the same time, with Andrew and Sam’s relationship the subject of intense debate. Whether the sparks were flying onscreen is another story, and it’s up for debate. Some people really loved this movie, and just can’t help but keep coming back for more. Others found the relationship to be simplistic, uninspired, insulting, and hard to believe.