.
.
You see them everywhere; on the bus, in shops, sitting on benches. People staring at those mobile phones, cell phones, call-them-what-you-will phones. Loners, couples, groups, silently gazing at them. Their fingers tip-tapping, prodding, swiping.
Walking along the street, you zig-zag to avoid them as they totter towards you. How they don’t get run down when blindly crossing roads I do not know.
My friend Rosey is one of them. Ever since she bumped into a street lamp she’s been trying get the council to wrap all poles and posts in foam rubber!
I rarely take mine out incase it rings. It rang at home the other evening during an edge-of-my-seat moment in an exciting tv drama – I almost leapt out of my skin!
‘Hello,’ I gasped.
‘Hi’ screeched an excited voice. ‘is that you, is that really you? ‘
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I suppose it must be! And who exactly, are you?’
‘It’s me, silly! Me-me-me!’
‘Sorry’ I said ‘but I’m not sure who me, sorry, you are’.
‘It’s me, surely you haven’t forgotten me already! Err, that is you isn’t it?
‘Of course, it’s me’, I said, thing is, who are you?’
‘Oh no’, she spluttered, ‘it isn’t you, is it? Please forgive me, wrong number’. And with that she was gone!
I settled back into my programme again and guess what? My phone rang!
‘Hi, it’s me ….’!
.…….
Oh, hang on a mo, I need to take this call.
Hello … it is … I do … why? … what’s happened? … no … NO …!
Sorry, I have to go.
.
.
Thanks to Jenne Gray and CEAyr for hosting The Unicorn Challenge
© Ayr/Gray
)))))!
Thanks, Beth!
I missed Rosey… but who’s the looney?
Rosey has gone a bit quiet on me of late, I’m beginning to worry about her!
If I discover who the looney is, I’ll let you know!
You and me both!
No, no… that’s okay – I wouldn’t want you to inadvertently give her my number!
A friend of mine wondered why his teenage daughter’s sleepover was so quiet. Turns out the girls were all texting each other on the phones instead of talking.
Why am I not surprised? A generation that will never understand the importance of verbal communication.
Great point and well told story, Keith. Cellphones have become ubiquitous…sigh
I enjoyed the drama you added to your reading!
I remember having to use one for my work, the phone was connected with a curly wire to a heavy battery pack which hung from my shoulder! That was when my dislike of mobile phones started!
Wow! I never heard of that version. That would certainly be a cumbersome experience to say the least.
I resisted having one until the late 90s when I lived in Hong Kong, and I had trouble making myself understood … no i just want a watch battery, not a Rolex … and I’d ring a Chinese friend and ask her to translate for me. 😆
Well, that was fun, Keith.
And the thought of Rosey petitioning the council to wrap the poles in foam rubber – it may well yet come to that.
Loved the ‘you’ and ‘me’ conversation – I’ve had chats like that.
And you show, too, how we become slaves to these wretched phones,
Still smiling at the you/me incident though.
Wait! You can’t leave me in the lurch like that! I need to know what happened, Keith. Keith? Are you there?? Of all the nerve!!
You have the wrong number, but it’s okay, I had to get up to answer the phone anyway.
Hey, Keith, I’m confused (and as you know I’m not easily confused!) so you gotta spill the beans now.
Was it you, or was it me, huh?
Wrap the pole in foam. Now THAT’S a nice bit of entitlement! Lucky for me, people rarely call, and it’s easy to snuff sound on notifications. No interrupting my favorite shows…I won’t have it!
I get soooooo tired of everyone staring at their phone. Great story.
All the phones and people acting like they can’t function without them.