Melissa's Place

Melissa Moments: Calling Sarah

I came home yesterday from a trip to Ottawa. I was pleased to find that Frankie looked healthy and happy. And our cat-sitter, Sarah, had left a cute little note saying how Frankie had actually eaten all of her food each day and had not even thrown up. I was so glad. Sarah being the responsible young lady that she is, I thought she might worry about whether I actually got home on Saturday as I’d planned or whether Frankie would be alone for another evening. So I decided to give her a ring to thank her and to let her know I was back.

The answering machine picked up right away, indicating to me that someone must be on the line. So I left a peppy little message, "Hi Sarah! It’s Melissa. I’m back from Ottawa. Frankie looks like she was well cared for. Thank you SO much for coming over and feeding her and petting her and loving her. Well, I’d like to thank you in person so I’ll just try you again later."
I got distracted and didn’t actually phone her at all that evening.

This morning, I woke up and began to prepare for my day. I went grocery shopping and got dressed for a run. Then I remembered that I hadn’t called Sarah back, as I’d promised in my message. So I picked up the phone. Before I could dial, I heard the special beep-beeping that indicated that I had a message. I dialed *98 and then my password and listened to my one new message.

"Hi Sarah! It’s Melissa...." the message began (had I heard that right?) ... "I’m back from Ottawa. Frankie looks like she was well cared for." (This seemed kind of familiar. And that peppy voice kind of seemed like me. Had Sarah listened to my message and then somehow, through the magic of Bell Canada, sent it back to MY machine?) ... "Thank you SO much for coming over and feeding her and petting her and loving her...."

Then I realized what had actually happened. What was more likely, that Sarah had listened to my message and then devised a way to return it to my answering machine.... OR....that I had simply dialed my own phone number last night and left MYSELF a peppy little, reassuring message.

Sometimes I am baffled that I am able to function in society for all the silly things I do.