I was getting a lot of hang-ups the other day. I’d answer the phone and someone would mutter “wrong number”, or just hang up without saying anything. And the numbers on the display were long distance, with area codes I don’t call. I left the house for a couple of hours and when I got back in the phone was still ringing. I finally snapped when the same number popped up on the display twice in a row.
“Can you quit calling here?” I yelled into the phone. The caller hung up. Then, less than a minute later, phoned again. Like an idiot, I picked up.
The woman on the line had a southern accent. “I’m callin’ from Florida. I’m tryin’ to get through to the Jerry Springer show.”
“What?”
“There was a number on the screen. A 1-800 number. For people to call and give their opinion. It keeps goin’ to you. Though you might wanna know.”
“Um… Jerry Springer?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you know you’re calling a farm in Saskatchewan? In the middle of harvest?” We had a short discussion about crossed phone wires and wrong numbers. Then, again, like an idiot, I couldn't help myself. “What were you phoning about anyway?”
“To tell them what I think about transgender dating.”
Turns out she thinks that, if you’re transgender, you should tell your potential date before you go out, to give them full information before they make a decision. Hard to argue with that.
In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t phoned SaskTel to have this straightened out. They had some story about Saskatchewan and Florida having confusingly similar area codes (305, 306). It probably would’ve been a lot more entertaining to take calls all day and mess with the people phoning in. Clearly, these would have been people with some time to talk.
And also, in hindsight, between talking to the woman from Florida and calling SaskTel, I shouldn’t have answered the next call by saying “No. I don’t want to know what you think about transgender dating.” Turns out my mother-in-law doesn’t have an opinion on that.
No worries, your MIL might have an opinion on the next Jerry Springer topic.
Posted by: Maureen | September 20, 2009 at 02:38 PM