angela's blog

Once upon a time, there was a situation with a cell phone ... A few weeks ago a friend of ours misplaced/lost/couldn't find his cell phone. As a result, all of our phone numbers went with it. We could call him, but since he didn't have his cell phone, we couldn't reach him. He had access to landline phones but thanks to the cell phone phenomenon of the contact list, which features a one-touch-button-press-to-dial, he couldn't remember a single phone number. This spurred me to ask JJ whether he knew my phone number. He didn't. He kind of knows our home phone number - but sometimes he gets the digits messed up. The only number he knows is his parents' home number, and that's only because that number came into being before there were cell phones. I've never had a problem with phone numbers. I can remember them easily, usually only after dialing them once. Twice at most. As a general rule the only time I have issues with remembering phone numbers is if I remember them wrong initially, like if I get digits inverted or something. But usually a 7 digit number for me isn't that hard. And even if it were, my whole argument was that a husband ought to know his wife's phone number ... you know, just in case. Anyway, when I found out that JJ didn't have the slightest clue what my phone number is and that our home phone is a sometimes hit-or-miss sort of situation, I tried to impress upon him the importance of learning my number. If he was ever in an accident or something happened where he had his cell phone taken away, and I wasn't in our apartment, I may never know about it until very much later. His argument was that he could call his parents and they could reach me. Sure. As long as they weren't busy or hadn't turned their cell phones off because they were at dinner or a movie or something of that nature. And then after he reached them, his parents would have to track ME down. Can you imagine that phone call? If JJ's parents called me and what I heard was "Um so JJ's been in an accident, he's at the hospital, and this is the only phone number he could remember. But he just wanted you to know." I didn't like the scenario. No I didn't. Not one bit. In JJ's defense, the likelihood of him being caught somewhere without his cell phone is probably slim. But he's sometimes forgotten to take his phone if it was in the charger or sometimes leaves it in a coat pocket and then doesn't wear that coat. Wouldn't you know, in my hypothetical scenario, that would be exactly when he got in a car accident. He also argued that these days no one else remembers phone numbers anyway, that it's not just him, that anyone with a cell phone wouldn't remember any of the other phone numbers. I relented, figuring that he might be right, but still arguing that he should remember my phone number. The next night Jamie and Rob and Michele and JJ and I were hanging out and JJ (he started this, not me) asked Jamie, "So do you know Rob's phone number?" and Jamie's response was "Oh he changes numbers all the time ... the one has right now is ... " and proceeded to rattle of the number. His first attempt to prove me wrong sunken, he tried to fire another shot, "What about you Rob? You don't actually know Jamie's phone number do you? I mean, everyone uses cell phones these days." And Rob said, "Actually, I do ... it's ..." and proceeded to rattle off Jamie's number. He could even tell us Jamie's office number. And as if this weren't enough for me to start smirking in the background, JJ shakes his head and makes some comment about he doesn't know how they do it and why do people remember numbers if they have cell phones. And Jamie looks fondly at Rob and says "Well, I don't usually remember that many numbers. They're usually in my cell phone. But I remember Rob's number because he's important to me so I make an effort to make sure I know it." And in the background, Angela raised her hands in victory as she watched JJ hang his head in shame. The End.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper on 3.23.2006 at 3/23/2006 09:19:00 AM | Permalink