Cell Phone Tales

We used to have a home phone and my husband and I had cell phones. If the phone at the house rang during the day, Ma would get mad if the sitter answered the phone since she felt that if we weren't home, it was her responsibility. Well, calls would come in for us and she would attempt to take messages and of course when we got the message (if she remembered to give it to us) it would be written so poorly and/or spelled so weird and numbers missing in the phone number we had a hard time calling people back. If the sitter tried to assist her she would get furious at them. Sometimes it was calls about doctors appointment changes etc. and we just never could count on getting the correct information.





When we moved to our current house, we decided we would not have a home phone and that we would get Ma her own cell phone so she would have that one to answer without fighting with anyone about it. I always give my cell phone number for any of her appointments so that has worked out well. The only calls she gets are from my brother and her friends - the 2 that are left.


The first phone I got her was very basic, big numbers, just open to answer etc. I got the voice dialing set up for her so all she had to do was open the phone and say the name of the person she wanted and it would confirm the name of the person. So, she would say "Jim" and then the recording would say "Did you say Jim?" and she was supposed to say "yes". She always thought there was actually a person asking her this and so she would say extra things like "yes, I want to talk to Jim". Of course the recording would then say "I'm sorry, I did not understand your response. Did you say Jim?" I , of course tried again and again to explain that there isn't anyone there, that it's just a computer voice and would review what she needed to say, only to have her say it was just too confusing.



She misplaced her phone a few times and went into a panic. I would tell her I'd just call her phone and we'd listen for it. She would ask how I was going to call her phone when she didn't have a phone number. Each time, I would tell her that she did, indeed have a phone number and I would again write it down for her on her calendar or someplace where I thought she would have it and it wouldn't get lost. She has always been amazed at how easily I can call her phone and we can find it rather than tearing the house apart and searching every pocket, cushion , flower pot etc.



I overheard a conversation with her friend Hazel - Ma told Hazel that if she wanted to call her, all she had to do was pick up her phone and say " Ruth" and she would get connected. I wonder how many times Hazel tried it with no success.



She ended up dropped her phone in a wet situation and I had to get her another phone. Of course, the model she had was no longer available so the one I got for her required her to say "Call Jim" instead of just the name. Of course, the same voice is there asking her questions, telling her they can't understand her command etc etc. so at this point, it's pretty much useless for her to try to call anyone. Despite my best efforts to get different types of cases for her phone, it is always stashed somewhere that makes it difficult for her to get to it and by the time she fumbles around with it, the caller - generally my brother - has hung up. I have attempted many times to show her how to see who called and just push the green button and it will dial them back. Sadly, this has not been very successful either.