When I got my first apartment, I didn’t want to pay for both a cell phone and a landline, but my parents wanted to have a way to get in touch with me if my cell phone was out of power. To that end they gave me an extra phone they received through their cell phone plan which became my “home phone” – it was always plugged in and on so they could call me in an emergency or if they were freaked out about something.
When I went to China I gave the phone back to my parents and forgot about it. I had never recorded a voicemail message or anything, and I don’t think I used it more than twice in all the time I had it. My parents kept it as a backup phone for people to use when they went out on the lake so they could call if the boat stalled or there was a problem.
When I came back from China they still had the phone and were still using it. Last weekend my dad said to me, “The voicemail on your phone is full. You should go through it and throw away any messages you don’t need.”
“How can the voicemail be full?” I asked. “You and Mom were the only ones who had the number.”
“Well it is. Check it yourself.” So I did, and oh boy, what an interesting experience that was!
Apparently that phone number is one of the easiest to misdial by anyone ever. There were four years’ worth of messages on the phone. Two of the messages were from my grandma, who thought calling the phone would call my Skype number. The rest of the messages weren’t for me at all – neither were they for any one consistent person. Almost all the messages were time-sensitive, and required a callback. There were people calling for Paul, John, Jeannie, Rolly, Ann, Kim, Jayel, Lynn, Verizon and Qwest. There was a call about a package delivery that hadn’t happened, and one confirming that a package had been delivered. There was a doctor calling to confirm that a patient who had visited the Native American Clinic had a UTI. There was a call to the doctor’s office confirming a doctor’s appointment. There were two job offers – oh boy that was really too bad! There was a message about participating in a medical trial. There was a call about a purchasing issue at a company that needed to be resolved right away. There was a call about a leasing agreement. I could not believe the variety of messages on the phone!
I wasn’t sure what the takeaway of this experience was. Check your messages more often? Record a voicemail message so people know that they have the right number? Be sure to give people your area code when you give them your number? If someone doesn’t call you back about something important, assume that you called the wrong number? Don’t leave messages about sensitive medical information? Whatever lesson you take from it – all of the above or none – I can assure you that it was as amusing as all get-out, and while I hope it doesn’t happen again, I like that it did. It gave me an intriguing insight into a variety of people’s lives and issues. It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in my little life with its problems and blessings and distractions – but there are a lot of other people out there too. God loves us all, and no accident is unexpected by Him – though I do hope that the people who called the wrong number got in touch with the right person in the end!