Sometimes, I really have to work hard to keep in touch with EO. When he's bored, and has nothing to do, or when all the other students have gone on holiday leaving him behind, he has been known to call home every night. But when all his friends are around him, and he's working, and sleeping until 2 in the afternoon, his poor mum becomes a bit of a potted plant (I didn't say I become potted...just a potted plant).
So, this past Saturday I called him at 9:00 a.m. my time and 2:00 p.m. his time. I got my cellphone and pressed the speed dial for Thom UK. The phone rang that special UK ring "burrrrt-burrrrt." "Hullo?" a male voice answers. In my sweetest, all-knowing mother's voice, I say: "Are you asleep, sleepy?" A hesitant response comes back "Uh, no," and then "Who are you trying to reach?" Oops! Not the elusive offspring I was looking for. "Oh! I must have the wrong number! Sorry." The male voice on the other side says it again "Who are you trying to call?" This time, my response is a little sheepish: "Thomas." "He's asleep" comes the answer. "Oh, who am I talking to?" "James." (It sounds more like "Jems" when he says it). One of my son's flatmates...from Ireland. And my synapses start to malfunction immediately. What the heck is James doing with Thomas' cellphone (or "mobile" if you are in the UK)? Luckily, James saves me from saying something stupid, like "What the heck are you doing with Thomas' cellphone?" by telling me I should call him on his mobile and wake him. Ah, I had called the flat's land-line.
I should have said "Sure! Nice to talk to you, James." But no. I start asking him stupid questions about how he's doing and what he's up to. He's a really nice guy and he put up with all my questions and I believe he even gave back as good as he got. Eventually, I said I should probably call the sleepy one and we hung up.
Honestly, I'm not stalking my son's flatmate! Mrs. Robinson I'm not! But I have to admit that when he speaks with that lilting Northern Ireland accent of his, it's ... well... seductive.
So, I then called and woke the sleepy one. Last week, he started his internship with one of his professors or lecturers or someone in his department. It appears to be more than a 40-hour a week job, this internship. Sadly, the department did not have the budget for paying him (although there were funds for graduate students), so the potted plant is now footing his rent and bringing lunch to work (thus saving bucks and calories). The EO sounds very satisfied with this summer internship...sort of makes it all worth while, you know, eating home-made sandwiches and soup and all.
Eventually, I'll get ahold of him again and find out just what he's working on. Maybe I'll call the flat's phone number again (as opposed to EO's mobile) and maybe James will answer again...
Just kidding!
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4 comments:
Way to scare the crap out of your son, there.
Several years ago (pre-cell phone days) when I lived in Ft. Worth I had an Australian roommate and we had one land line. He worked nights and I worked days.
Bless her heart, his mother never could do never figure out the time zone difference.
She would call in the middle of the night wanting to talk to her son who was at work. A phone ringing in the middle of the night has always scared me (it's usually bad news) and so I would be startled and try to carry on a conversation with this very sweet lady with a cute Aussie accent.
EO- just making sure you have something to talk about on the analyst's couch.
Timmy- A good accent is a wonderful thing, and something I really love. My son knows this well. If he even suspects I'm about to get annoyed with him, he starts speaking to me with a Scottish accent (he's quite good at it) and I melt like butter.
LOL at this post. I love, love, love accents too!
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