Caller ID Dread
Caller ID. How did we live without it? Us dinosaurs who lived in the olde-timey days of rotary phones remember the Russian Rouette feeling. Who's on the phone? My friend? Grandma? Someone boring for mom? A telemarketer? You just never knew.
Then someone came up with the bright idea to give the world the ability to see who is calling. It is fantastic if you're screening the call from the client who always calls at 4:58PM on Friday afternoon with some giant project/problem. Or you just don't want to talk to Aunt Irma about her fungal infectiotn again.
But there's a downside. The proverbial dark underbelly. Caller ID Dread.
Caller ID Dread is that feeling you get when you see it is your kid's school calling. My brain immediately goes into hyper-drive, running down the list of possible reasons why I might be getting a call during the school day:
So, when I see that horrific caller ID my brain races through all of the above (and a few other options). I then take a deep breath, close my eyes and hope for the best, then answer. At this point I am desperately hoping to hear the nurse's voice calmly telling me that my son has a little scratch, or a bloody nose, or a minor tummy ache.
Some days I get lucky. WOO HOO Bloody Nose!
Other days I get to hear from the assistant principal about some catastrophic behavior issue that no one would have even given a second thought to a million years ago back when I was in grade school. I then have to pretend like I'm concerned because my son said or did something that EVERY FREAKING AMERICAN says (or does) every day. But because he said it during school it is a serious concern. (I'm still thinking of sending Ryan as Chucky for the school Halloween parade next year. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!)
And once in a while, you get a legit call that your kid did something dumb that they shouldn't have. And I have to offer some sort of acknowledgment and then have a conversation with the Offender about making better choices. Or what we can do at home vs. what you can do/say at school.
I think maybe what I should do is change the primary number to Hari's phone. He never answers anyway, so they'd have to leave a message. Then I'd be off the hook and HE could deal with Caller ID Dread.
Then someone came up with the bright idea to give the world the ability to see who is calling. It is fantastic if you're screening the call from the client who always calls at 4:58PM on Friday afternoon with some giant project/problem. Or you just don't want to talk to Aunt Irma about her fungal infectiotn again.
But there's a downside. The proverbial dark underbelly. Caller ID Dread.
Caller ID Dread is that feeling you get when you see it is your kid's school calling. My brain immediately goes into hyper-drive, running down the list of possible reasons why I might be getting a call during the school day:
- Is he hurt?
- Is he really hurt, or is this just some dumb boo-boo and the school is over-wagging. (I know I'm callous, but I don't really care if my kid got a papercut and needed a Superman band-aid.)
- Is there a disaster at the school?
- Did he rip his pants?
- Did he throw up?
- Was there an incident?
- Is he in trouble?
- Is he in stupid-trouble that I don't care about, or did he really do something dumb/wrong?
So, when I see that horrific caller ID my brain races through all of the above (and a few other options). I then take a deep breath, close my eyes and hope for the best, then answer. At this point I am desperately hoping to hear the nurse's voice calmly telling me that my son has a little scratch, or a bloody nose, or a minor tummy ache.
Some days I get lucky. WOO HOO Bloody Nose!
Other days I get to hear from the assistant principal about some catastrophic behavior issue that no one would have even given a second thought to a million years ago back when I was in grade school. I then have to pretend like I'm concerned because my son said or did something that EVERY FREAKING AMERICAN says (or does) every day. But because he said it during school it is a serious concern. (I'm still thinking of sending Ryan as Chucky for the school Halloween parade next year. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!)
And once in a while, you get a legit call that your kid did something dumb that they shouldn't have. And I have to offer some sort of acknowledgment and then have a conversation with the Offender about making better choices. Or what we can do at home vs. what you can do/say at school.
I think maybe what I should do is change the primary number to Hari's phone. He never answers anyway, so they'd have to leave a message. Then I'd be off the hook and HE could deal with Caller ID Dread.
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