Am i different from everyone else? Am I weird? I question thusly because when the telephone rings I break my neck to answer it. Three rings and I am tearing across the room to the telephone, in a panic lest the caller has to leave me a message. This does not seem to be the case with the people whom I call. Oh, no. I made three calls tonight, and was forced to leave a message on each one. Were they all out somewhere? I doubt it. I think they were lurking somewhere close by, waiting to hear who was calling. They will call back, I am sure. But will I wait until I hear the voice leaving a message and only then pick up the phone? No, I will not. I will once again rush to answer it. I suppose this habit was formed in my younger days when we were on a party telephone, and we hurried to answer lest someone along the line picked up the phone and an entire conversation was going on before we got there.
Sometimes these party lines were a godsend, as when someone was taken ill and several of the neighbors heard the news and chimed in with advice. My Aunt Maud was quite good with a quick diagnosis and my Grandma would come right down, carrying a lighted lantern if it was night, and bringing with her the wisdom of the pioneer stock she descended from. Sometimes it was no more serious than a sick cow, but sometimes it was a life-threatening crisis. When a neighbor went into labor someone always volunteered to come and stay while the doctor was on the way. Since we all lived up and down the road from each other, it was indeed an extended family. Of course, everyone knew everything about everyone else, and for a wayward teenager, this could be very trying. My Grandmother was the most understanding soul one could hope to know, and I remember one young woman who came to live with Grandma for awhile, leaving with a new little baby, going out into a hard world by herself. Grandma had given her shelter when she had nowhere else to turn.
Ah, the good old days. Sometimes i wish we could turn back the clock. Things were simpler then.
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3 comments:
You are not alone, I have been known to come close to injury on my way to answer the tele, however it dawned on me those days have passed. I do not have a home telephone any longer, just a mobile phone. When the phone rings it may be:
1. ringer off, leave a message I don't even know you are calling.
2. still in the bottom of my purse or possibly in my car, leave a message I don't know you are calling.
3. Saturday or Sunday morning, mom is calling. I put down my coffee and my homework and get the phone (if the above two do not happen).
4. Very rare situation, the phone rings and I can't predict who is calling, get up, if I am not completely involved in something and check the caller ID, answer with a greeting for that person. There is an even smaller chance that I just don't feel like talking and will listen to the message and claim I missed your call.
I run to get the phone when I am home and the home phone rings. I forget about the cell phone and some days it stays in my purse and I don't answer. I don't care for cell phones anyway unless it is an emergency or something. My daughters stay on theirs all the time! When they were young and we lived on a farm, we were on a 10 party line and heard 4 rings besides ours. It was chaos most of the time! Thanks for visiting me. Come back anytime. I love company.
Forgot my cell at home today when I went out shopping. My best friend was trying to reach me to see if she and her family could come for an overnight visit. She called eight times and left six messages in hopes of reaching me (and making me laugh at each of her messages - one from her six month old son). I returned home, was delighted to hear how loved and missed I was in my short trip out, and was delighted to call her and tell her she of course was welcome, we would be home for the rest of the weekend. That made me think of you today.
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