One night, around midnight, I got a phone call. I picked up the phone and the guy on the other end of the line asked for Lisa. I said, "You have the wrong number." He said, "Okay," and hung up. Three seconds later, the phone rang again and the same guy says, "What are YOU doing?" I hung up the phone and lamented the fact that it was the most action I had gotten in months.
One day last week, I received a text message that said, "Hey, Baby." I didn't recognize the number so I didn't respond. Yesterday, I noticed the text message in my saved messages and started wondering about it. What if the person sending the text message had worried and fretted over sending the "Hey, Baby" and finally gathered up their courage and sent the message and then, upon receiving no response, went into a deep dark depression and became so depressed they couldn't go to work and lost their job and their house and their car...and it was all my fault!
In the old days, when you got a wrong number, you knew it immediately. Now, with text messaging, once the message is sent, it's gone. You have to wonder how many relationships are forever damaged by the punch of a careless finger.
"I sent you a text message. Why didn't you respond?"
"I didn't get it."
"Kiss my ass."
"Bite me."
etc, etc, etc...
I decided to text message the "Hey, Baby" person and tell them I received the message and thought it was a mistake. They responded by saying, "Sorry, wrong number."
Yeah, bite me.
17 comments:
Laurie- I think you did the right thing! A while ago I got a message that seemed to be for a conference coordinator, so I called them back and explained, they were so thrilled they asked what my favorite candy was, I answered See's key lime truffles and hung up. About an hour later See's was calling for an address, and they shipped me a pound of my favorite candy! I have also gotten movie tickets that way.
I also ended up taking with a lawyer I used to work with once when she miss dialed her tenants and ended up leaving a message on my machine. It was quite an interesting conversation ;-)
I figure I would want someone to help me if I messed up and left a message the wrong place, so I help them.
Occasionally you get an impolite response but most people are quite nice.
"gtbykiha" Great! the bashful young kid's icing his arm!
Remember the text I got saying, "Good night. Thank you for flowers and love and being awesome." I always wondered if some poor guy or girl cried him or herself to sleep that night when no one responded. :(
We have all these great new ways to communicate with each other. Sadly, the messages still aren't always getting through.
.........."p...ciao
Susan - Yeah, I should have texted the person back right away.
I will next time.
Jen - I thought about that when I was writing this but I couldn't exactly remember what the message said. I really hope those two are okay.
Larry - The more ways there are to communicate, the more ways there are for things to get screwed up.
Xianfu - Ciao!
Many, many years ago, I got a voicemail from a friend who worked in the corporate office of the company I was with at the time. He calling offering counselation on me being let go. The only problem was that I had not been fired. This was in the days prior to mass cell phone use (way back in the bag phone era - remember those?) no text messaging either. Was this a heads up? Was I about to get the shaft? Were those frickin' bastards gonna fire me after everything I put up with? Yada yada yada. So I called his office right away - he was out. Called him at home - no answer.
This was on a Friday - so I sat on pins and needles - contemplated trashing my office and walking out. Finally about 3 hours later he calls me back and tells me that he hit the wrong button on speed dail.
I'm no sociologist (in fact, I don't even know if I spelled that correctly), but here's my two cents. It seems to me the more tools we have to communicate, the less we actually interact. We email each other instead of having face-to-face contact with people in the same office. We go home at night and surf the net for hours instead of spending time with family. We go to coffee shops and talk to people miles away on cell phones when there are lots of people all around us we could talk to if we just took the time. I'm not preaching because I'm guilty of this, too. Mass communication is, I think, the cause of minimal communication.
At least you, Laurie, are keeping the human factor alive in your communications by remembering there are real people on the other end of those phone calls and text messages.
Wow, you people have really put some thought into this. When I receive messages (verbal or text) erroneously, I simply delete them; never giving it another thought. Oh no! Maybe I'm a cold-hearted, dumbass bitch!!!
imoem -- I'm one elegant Mom!!!
Al - Isn't it funny how our brains can go off on their own little scenarios with no justification. I lose more boyfriends that way.
Tim - One good thing I can say for all this mass communication though is that I wouldn't know all of you guys. Who would have thought I would have people that I consider close personal friends in London, The Netherlands and Canada, let alone all over the U.S.? Weird, I tell you.
Popeye - How YOU doin'?
Anonymous (Poodles?) - I think that if you returned the calls though, you'd be on the phone with them for hours. It's probably better this way. ;)
Tim - ...and Australia (sorry Peter!).
I'm with you--and Emily Post would be too, if it weren't a little hard on her, being dead and all.
You should have asked the "Hey Baby" guy out. Heehee.
Popeye, that was perfect.
Lorna - Emily uses that being dead thing to get out of all sorts of stuff.
Tanda - I'll remember that for the next time. ;)
Laurie,
Why do I have a hard time believing you have trouble finding men?
Al - I can find 'em. I can catch 'em. I just can't reel 'em in.
well, after finding them and catching them....who really wants to clean them. Its such a mess and that smell just takes forever to wash off.
hehe
fujwtq
Zina - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*ppbbbeaa* - That one is funny enough on its own.
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