I said it was the week of GiveAways… Our first GiveAway was international and closes tonight, but the next GiveAway is a local one – sorry overseas readers but sometimes “Local is Lekker…” This GiveAway does come with a tale, a Pampers tale.
Firstly, and I digress… I am not a telephone person. I can not understand why anyone would want to have a machine that can interrupt their lives at any moment in time, for any reason. Because of this I am notoriously bad at answering the telephone. I do not need to turn the sound off, I just can’t be bothered to hear it. And my attitude did not improve when I got a mobile phone. And of course I got one. I am married to the ultimate techie after all. A couple of years back when we lived in the world of two children and a teeny tiny car he got me my first cell phone.
And then he discovered a glaring fault of mine… I never ever answered it!!! I would occasionally wonder what the noise was in my pocket, but mostly I would be blissfully unaware of the gentle buzzing that I was emitting as I wandered to and fro through the world.
Picture this: my mom-in-law decided we couldn’t live without a TV so after years of gentle persuasion and prodding she eventually gave us the cash to get one. Off we went to the most boring shop on earth to by a tv… after five minutes I took our two youngsters to a more interesting shop – food!!! And left the father person to shop alone, in the world of gadgets, to his hearts content. Well he purchased and went to the car… I found a friend and got chatting. Now to my credit I did keep wondering why so many people walking by had exactly the same ring tone as I did. But that’s all I did… I wondered, and chatted!!! Needless to say he got to the car and discovered the box/packaging (and don’t you just love packaging – NOT) was too big for the car – ahem. And he did the best thing he could he called his wife!!! 72 missed calls later I thought – oh my goodness, that’s my phone and answered it. (If I knew how to write that number any smaller I would!!!) Needless to say he was a little heated and I was a little oblivious. I have no recollection how the tv got home, but it has been in a cupboard ever since.
Moving on… a couple of years later when we had just five kids a “friend of a friend” rang me on a Friday evening and said: Wouldn’t you like your kid to be the Pampers baby?” Did I? Didn’t I? Well in case I did I needed to gather all my kids and be on the far side of the city before the crack of dawn the next day. Which we duly did… Just in case we wanted to be living with the Pampers baby. They took his picture, oh about a million times and told us he was beautiful. But I know they have to say that!!! And while every mother thinks her children are totally delicious and gorgeous… I really do know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder … and all that!!! Anyway, they said they would call us back if they needed us. And it never occurred to me that they would. But if they did I assumed it would be in a week or three. So off we went out to breakfast as a reward for our hideously early start. And since we were on the far side of town we visited a huge shopping mall (read noisy) and spent the entire day exploring things we had never seen before… And staggered home at the end of a long tired day.
And I confess that once or twice I did think – hmmm I wonder if that noise in my pocket is someone calling me. But who would call me? And then we got home and I collapsed in a heap and glanced at my phone. Looked across the room and said to the father person: “Gosh I wonder who would call me (and I am writing this small) 47 times!!!” As I said it I knew… so we scrambled, called back and dashed our five exhausted kidlets back across town to see them packing up a photo shoot.
Let’s just say I have had some stern lectures regarding telephones and answering them in my time. I am no better at it… and worse I have washed a few of these hideous little noisemakers – because let’s face it they fit so perfectly into a pocket!!! Now I have an i-phone and I love it… Love it… it is full of little apps and my kids are forever on it doing cool stuff… but answering it is still for the birds. Really I am far too busy living to answer the phone. Really – don’t call me!!! I might call you!!!
Needless to say our gorgeous and very good looking baby, cheeks and squiffle smile, did not become the face of Pampers, but he did become the Celebrity Chef… and I for one am content with that!!!
And as for Pampers I have a fabulous GiveAway for you – all you Cape Town/Western Cape readers… who I am sure have read all the way through my long tale are now ready to enter away…
Ha! That’s funny.
I’m forever griping at my husband, who just had to have his own cell phone, that it does absolutely no good to anyone unless he turns it on!
Oh Christine!!! I don’t even need mine to be on – seriously I just don’t get the whole ring thing!!! But I can tell you that you can wash a sim card a number of times and it has survived… Thank-goodness because seriously it only takes about a year for me to figure out how to enter anyones number. Like why do I need to know other peoples number anyway… Hellooo there is the internet!!! No voices interrupting my thoughts online – enjoy the silence!!!
Hi Christine – I just don’t get the whole “ring and interrupt my life” thing!!! I can tell you that my sim card has survived endless trips through the washer, the phones not so much!!! Luckily because it only takes about a year at a time to enter someones number… Helloo there is the internet for all things communicable… and no voices disrupting my thoughts, enjoy the silence!!! Have a fun weekend!!!
That made me laugh!! Thanks for a great post!!
Hay J, Glad I could give you a laugh!!! Enjoy the weekend – freezing as it is!!!
Oh this is the funniest story. I don’t like talking on the phone either, but I almost always have to answer it.
Hi Rachel!!! Glad you liked my tale!!! I have a feeling telephones are more invasive than the internet because they just invade our lives whenever “they” want to, whereas the internet we can still choose to have a day off or whatever. To this end I will remain quite rebellious (!!!) and choose not to hear mine!!!!