"Telephone. N. An invention of the devil which abrogates some
of the advantages of making a disagreeable
person keep his distances."
~Ambrose Bierce
Telephone. Cell phone. Cell phone telephone. Saturday evening my phone rang. It was Private Number. Private number calls me from time to time. I usually screen my calls because it is one of the advantages of the modern age affords us. I like to let the person calling to leave me a message, so I know if the call back will be a fun time had by all, or if it's something I need to prepare for. It's something I learned to do when the invention of answering machines became the must have thing to have. I had a Phone-Mate, in imitation wood grain. I hated recording the prerecorded outgoing message. I never really thought it sounded like me. I sounded strange. Anyway, I learned to love the gadget, despite my off sounding voice, so much so, that I continue to screen calls to this day! Back to last evening. A call came in from Private Number at about 8:30 pm and boy did Private Number have something to say!
Actual Transcript
Private Number: He didn't say he was going to hurt himself.
Private Number's Companion (in the background): What are you doing? Get off the fucking phone!!(Loudly) It's my fucking problem and my family and you are just making it worse!!!!!
Private Number: (Speaking to companion) It's my house. And she is not fucking sending the cops here. FUCK YOU!
Private Number: Lady, you better not send the cops here, he didn't say he was going to hurt himself. I am not fucking around!!
CLICK.
Obviously, Private Number and her companion were not having a good evening! And while I didn't recognize the voices, and have no way to call them back and let them know they got the wrong number, I can't help but worry a tiny bit about the woman they meant to call. If she never got this call, and she did indeed call the police, will she ever be believed that she never got this call? Will anything bad come of it? Did I just hear the prequel to a crime? I have no way of knowing if they were calling my area code or not. They could have been anywhere! It's a spooky feeling, because I don't think Private Number was messing around! And what about companion? Is he okay right now? Have they all calmed down? It's sad. It reminds me of when I was a child and fights would break out between my parents. Holidays, and the time around holidays, really messes with folks. I wanted to call back and check on them, but as you know, you can't call back Private Numbers. They can call you, you can't call them. That's a strange system... don't you think? Anyway, by mistake someone I don't know connected with me, and brought their world into mine. It was a brief encounter, but a profound one.
I wish I knew the rest of the story.
Somehow I can't help but watch the news tonight.
Mood: Curious/Anxious
~Me
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