Wednesday, October 1, 2008

I'm not proud, but it was fun

Here is my contribution to Writers Workshop Wednesday.

I should start by saying that although this may not have been one of my finer moments, it was about as "mean" or "bad" as I got, so my parents must have done something right.

It was 1998, I was 21. It was not the greatest year for me. The how and why are irrelevant, but it involved a boy, so need I say more.
My friend Ang and I decided to get an apartment together and take on the world. We hadn't officially moved in, we were just getting the placed settled, but our parents and siblings wanted to be sure they could get a hold of us (that craziness is another story for another day). This was before everyone had cell phones. So, Ang's mom stopped by with this phone. I have no clue where she got it, because
A - It was 1998 and
B - We were 20 and 21

However, Her mom had stumbled upon a gold mine. It was the GIRL TALK PHONE. Not this one (that wasn't really a phone). No, this was a phone that could change your voice to go really slow or really fast. It would let you know if someone was on the phone, and when it was safe to talk again. I think the phone was pink and it was real. It also had some other features, but the most important (and the relevance to the workshop option #2), was the voice changing feature. Let me tell you, it was a little creepy.

It wasn't creepy for us, just the people we called. Usually we told people about the phone and then disguised our voices, but there are three times that we didn't (and again, it is not my proudest moment and I realize that we were adults, but still was fun):

1 We called our friend (who shall remain nameless) and had her so scared she wouldn't leave her room.
2 I called a girl from work and told her to "put the lotion in the basket" (and in my defense, I was coerced by her sister)
3 And the most hilarious, funny, and AWFUL moment was....Our friend Mike was over. This was long after the phone was put away, but somehow it came up. So, he called up a buddy of his and disguised his voice. The conversation went on and on and on. It got really heated and a few times I think Ang and I suggest to let Mikes buddy in on the "secret" It ended with the friend threatening to kick Mikes hind end, and Mike finally revealing it was us. The buddy claimed he know all along, but he didn't. He had no clue. We actually felt a little bad after that one, and the phone never came out again.
Looking back, that wasn't very nice, but we did always reveal ourselves and the friend that got really scared, scares easily, so we weren't really that mean.

14 comments:

Melissa said...

This gave me such a good laugh... I love the "put the lotion in the basket"....did that scare them?? He-he

Emily said...

Oh my gosh- a phone that changes your voice- WOWZER. Whoever came up with that must be a devious person- can you imagine all the havoc wreaked by everyone who owned one of those?
Crazy!

jori-o said...

The lotion in the basket "joke" is hilarious!! For me, now. Probably not for her, then.

Anonymous said...

lmao. Love the story. ANd 21 isn't really adult-time yet. It's more a part of that "old enough to know better, young enough not to care" age group.

Angie said...

Where can I get one of those???
:0)

~angie~

Joy said...

The lotion in the basket one is hillarious

Weeksie50 said...

I had a phone like that in college too. We were so bad. We never told people who we were.. We called this one lady almost every night for a month.. I feel so bad now but at the time it was so much fun..

Lex the mom said...

If I had that phone now, I'd use it! Seriously - only I wouldn't do scary with it. I'd do silly.

I bet you spent all the hours you had with that phone laughing hysterically (for the most part) because it is funny. I remember the days when we did prank calls - loved that stuff.

I have to agree that whoever had the idea for the phone had to be a little bit devious.

Great story.

Lex the mom said...

If I had that phone now, I'd use it! Seriously - only I wouldn't do scary with it. I'd do silly.

I bet you spent all the hours you had with that phone laughing hysterically (for the most part) because it is funny. I remember the days when we did prank calls - loved that stuff.

I have to agree that whoever had the idea for the phone had to be a little bit devious.

Great story.

jenn said...

Haha. Sounds like fun. (Not for the scared girl though.) Good story.

Jennifer P. said...

I could have done a lot of damage with that at 21 too! :) TOOOO FUNNY! Now the government would be all over you for terrorist plots or something!

Emily said...

Oh the times before caller ID spolied everything! ;)

KatBouska said...

I'm pretty sure a phone like that would have landed me in jail.

Anonymous said...

I have to say that was probably one of the funniest moments of my adult life!! I agree that Mike took it a little farther than I would have (when my Mike read that he thought you were talking about him and could not figure out why he couldn't remember it :)) Miss you!!!