answer your damn phone
Tonight I was involved in a confrontation with a parent. The jist is that her daughter was left at school and asked me for a ride, so I gave the kid a ride. I told her to call her mother twice so her mom would know where she was. No answer from the mom either time. So, I drop the kid off where she tells me. Fast forward to my cell phone ringing. It’s her mom, for purposes of this conversation we’ll call her “dumbness”. I hear the “did somebody call me from this number?” (i hate when people do that) So, I say something like someone was using my phone to call her mom, so maybe she called you. Dumbness asks me if I’m the one that dropped the girl off at her boyfriend’s house on a school night, she wasn’t supposed to be over there, yadda yadda yadda. My only response was “Ma’am, I made sure that she called you and she said there was no answer.” After all, I was doing the kid a favor. I had never seen this child before in my life, I just gave her a ride. I mean, the place didn’t look like a crackhouse, somebody opened the door and let her in, in my opinion, she was good. Then dumbness says them. The words I have never understood but somehow always manage to drive me friggin batty: I didn’t know who it was, so I didn’t answer the phone.
Let me cool off….
Now, you mean to tell me that your kid is somewhere calling you — the one thing that you know is that your child is somewhere you are not — and you have the nerve to look at the phone and dismiss the call because, after all, you don’t know the number. Then you call yourself getting mad at ME cause I dropped her off when you were unavailable — well, available but you didn’t know my number? Here are my thoughts on that. You’re an idiot, and that is just plain out irresponsible. Because….
1. If someone is calling your cell phone, 9 out of 10 times YOU have given them the number. Why would you not talk to them because they’re calling from a location that you don’t recognize? If it’s the wrong number, how long does it take to say “sorry, you got the wrong number.” Is that one minute going to mess up your whole cell phone plan?
2. If someone is calling your cell phone, 9 out of 10 times YOU have given them the number. If they are calling you from a number you don’t recognize, perhaps they aren’t calling to shoot the breeze and use up your minutes. Maybe they are calling you because they.need.something and apparently, they can’t get to their own phone or something is wrong with it.
3. From my experience, which may be outdated, emergency and hospital personnel don’t leave messages. If you don’t answer, they hang up. If my son or mom or dad or brother has told the ambulance man to call me, he’s not going to leave a message that says: “Hey, we got your kid here in the ambulance cause he passed out at school and he won’t wake up. Give us a call back at 555-1111 and ask for Bob. Thanks, and have a good day.” They are going to hang up and call the next person. It’s an emergency. Get it?
4. Situations like these: There was a gas leak at my son’s school and it had to be evacuated. The teachers were using their personal phones to reach parents. Suppose I’m looking at my phone saying “Umm, I don’t know who that is. They can leave a message.” Then my kid is at school in the gas leak, might get blown the hell up at school, cause I’m an idiot.
5. I’m just a firm believer that if my child or close relatives aren’t with me, I need to answer the phone. I remember when I was traveling and was in an area where my phone wouldn’t work. My tire was about to blow up, I had to stop at a gas station and use someone’s phone to call my dad to get him to send help. If he would’ve been looking at his phone and dismissed me, he would’ve never forgiven himself. I don’t ever want there to be a time when someone needs me and they can’t get me cause I don’t know where they’re calling from.
Call me paranoid, call me crazy, call me whatever. But I just don’t get it. In fact, people who brag about this irk me. You sound dumb. Answer your damn phone, or I might just drop your kid off at a crackhouse and you won’t know it.
I agree with you 100%, I have had that happen to me a number of times and have been like WTF. I coach cheerleading and have had parents who were a no show at pick up time not answer the phone. Are you kidding me? Your child is somewhere outside doing potentially dangerous things, not to mention that you are past pick up time and you don’t answer the phone. People are ridiculous. But then again, they are probably the same folks who will buy a 7 or 8 year old a cellphone.
OMG- I am so feeling you on this post. This has happened to me twice. Once. I was locked out of my house with no phone. I used a strangers phone at publix. My girlfried would not answer the phone. I must have called her 19 times and on the 20th time she answered. And she said it “I didn’t recognize the number”. Loser, you don’t have any friends so you best pick up that phone every time it rings.
Then it happened again this weekend. I found this drunk guy on the street (long story) and I found his friends number and called. He didn’t answer. At 2am. If my phone rings at 2am I’m answering. Someone is clearly in trouble!
LMAO… hilarious. I love it. I just love when I call someone 100 times in the span of a week and finally they answer, “Um hello? Why do you keep calling me?” Because I have had something to tell you dumbass! “OH! Oh my God! I didn’t know the number, had no idea it was you!” Well, obviously stupid, answer your fucking phone and you might figure that out next time! People, if your phone is ringing, it is for a reason! If there was an emergency, like your child was in a car accident and a police officer called from their cell phone, like they do 99% of the time, you not answering that call, could be you passing up the last opportunity you will ever have to tell your kid you love them. Think people, be responsible, and answer your damn phone!
this is funny but true!!!! When she said she didn’t know the number, you should’ve told her to raise her hand and slap herself!!!!!!