Another Way to be Rude

Cells phones provide yet another way to be rude.


Last evening while I was visiting my mother-in-law at the nursing home, my cell phone rang.  I didn't recognize the number, but answered the phone.  There was a great deal of noise and conversation in the background.  In fact the caller seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with someone when I answered.  I couldn't tell what she was saying to me and what she was saying to someone else.   I asked who was calling and didn't understand her response at all.  She hung up.


About a minute later the phone rang again and it was the same routine....lots of extraneous noise and conversation.  This time she asked for "Mike."  I told her she had the wrong number.  She then let loose with a string of angry words.  About the only one I understood was "slut."  I said, "You have the wrong number.  You don't know me."  We both hung up.


A couple of minutes later, I received a text:  "Please im srry for my attitude u yelledd at me and im havin a bad day."


Hmmm....the only reason I raised my voice was that she didn't seem to understand me, and I didn't think she could hear me over all the background noise.  It seemed she still didn't understand that she had called a wrong number, so I texted back:  "I have no idea who u r."
She then responded: "Don't call the cops."


Oh, boy...how could I call the cops on someone I don't even know?
I texted back:  "Don't worry.  I don't know who you are.  You called a wrong number."
She then texted:  "ya, ok"


So....I don't think she still believed me.  I am imagining that Mike is a person of interest for her, and that she thinks I am keeping her from Mike.  I don't know whether she thinks I'm his mother or his girlfriend.


I hope she doesn't call again.


I had an uncle who hated the telephone.  He said it was an awful invention that allowed for intrusion into you life by anyone at anytime.  He didn't live to see cell phones, which are exponentially worse!