May 3, 2010

• mmiaf

  I try to call my mom once a week, because if I don’t, she thinks I’m either dead or unfilial.

  I was too busy to call her over the weekend, so I called her this afternoon on her cell phone. Cell phone conversations with my mom are always funny, because they usually start with her picking up, but not realizing she’s picked up, and I get to hear a few seconds of “How do I answer this? Hello? Hello?” before the conversation begins in earnest.

  Today, it was even better:

  [ringing]
  [Mom picks up]
  [lots of white noise in background]
  Mom: Hello? HELLO?
  Me: Hi, Mo–
  Mom: HELLO?
  Me: HI, MOM!!
  Mom: I’M DRIVING.
  Me: OK, I’ll let you go, I just wanted to call to tell you I’m alive and–
  Mom: HELLO? I’M IN THE CAR. I’M DRIVING. I CAN’T TALK TO YOU.
  Me: OK, Mom, just wanted to let you know I’m back and I’m OK,–
  Mom: I’M DRIVING. I CAN’T TALK TO YOU. I CAN’T HEAR YOU. I’LL CALL YOU BACK.
  Me: You don’t have to call me back, I’m just calling to let you know I–
  Mom: I’LL CALL YOU BACK. I CAN’T TALK RIGHT NOW.
  Me: NO, DON’T CALL ME BACK, MOM, I JUST WANTED TO SAY HI.
  Mom: I’LL CALL YOU BACK LATER. WHO IS THIS?
  [Mom hangs up]
  Me: Uh, it’s me, [Troid]. Um. Mom? Mom?

  My officemates had overheard the conversation, and were cracking up about it. Such a classic “mom with a cell phone” conversation.

  She later called back and told me that she had been driving (oh, really?). I asked her why she didn’t know it was me, since there are only two people in the world who call her “Mom.” She said it was because she was on speaker phone.

  • 11:33 pm
  • 3 Comments