Last night my husband and I watched the television special with Katie Couric regarding teen sex. These kids were telling us how thirteen the age where kids are starting to experience sex. I found it appalling. What, 13-year-olds don't have anything better to do to occupy their time?
Then this morning, while driving to the gym, I passed a golf course clubhouse. This course is a step below a country club course, but a level above the city courses. Out in the front of the parking lot, they had a banner that read, "Sunday Brunch." Then just to let us know that they are a step above a place that has to advertise their meals on a banner in the parking lot, they added, "For reservations" with their telephone number. You are welcome to join us for Sunday Brunch, but do not come without a reservation, please.
I started thinking how funny it would be to call the number and act like a real hillbilly, "Whatcha all serve over there? You gots any okra? Pork and beans?" You know just to mess with them. That, of course, led me down memory lane to my days of prank calling.
My brother and our friends would huddle up in my parents' bedroom with the door locked, asking people who answered, "Yes, ma'am, is your refrigerator running?" And then they would say, "Why yes, why?" we would fall down laughing while we shouted, "Then you better go catch it."
Juvenile. I know that now, but oh, how much fun we had. My brother had one friend who could really sound like a little kid. We would get him to call people at random and pretend he was a lost kid. He would ask, "Mommy? Mommy, is that you? Mommy, where are you? Why did you leave me?" That prank really got people going, especially the women. We could keep people on the phone for minutes with that one. I thought again how much fun it all was back then, and then I pictured myself laughing along with my kids while they prank called people. It was a fun picture until it hit me that I could not call the golf course clubhouse because they probably had caller I.D.
Today everyone has caller I.D. We cannot make phone calls without someone on the other end knowing it is us. I love this feature of my phone, don't get me wrong. I get a big kick out of people answering, "Hello?" like they don't know it is me calling when it says my name right there on their caller I.D. I like to answer the phone, depending on the caller of course, with a variety of answers like, "Speak!", "Yo?" "Joe's Bar and Grill," "Yes?" or "What the hell do you want? I'm busy here."
On the other hand, it can mess you up. Like the time, I had to call my daughter's teacher at home to ask a question regarding our upcoming field trip.
Just the thought of calling a teacher makes my hands sweat, and my heart beat faster. I don't know what it is, but when I deal with teachers at conferences or in the pick-up line at school, I feel like a kid being sent to the principal's office. I may look like a confident put-together 40-year-old should-be-voted-mother-of-the-year on the outside, but inside I'm still that kid in high school. I planned what I would say, "Hello Mrs. C., this is Cara, Madison's mother." All very businesslike.
Instead, she answered, "Hello there."
I frowned, looked at the phone, and started my spiel, "Hello, Mrs. C., this is Cara..."
"Yes," she interrupted, "I know."
It totally threw me off for the rest of the phone call.
So sometimes caller I.D. can be a pain, but for the most part, it is a handy tool to have, just like *69 which you can dial (for a fee) to find out who the little boy was who just rang you and asked if you were his mother.
But thinking on all of this made me realize that kids today cannot prank call. Well, they could if they paid to block the call or their number was unlisted, but the average kid can not make a prank call for some serious childhood fun and memories for fear they will get caught.
My god, no wonder they've turned to sex.
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