@robertsrandoms
robert.taylor34@gmail.com

The idea behind Robert's Random is for me to write about whatever I'm thinking about whenever I'm thinking it. I try to write 3-5 times a week, but sometimes real work gets in the way of that. Sometimes I'll share whatever random thought I might have that day but most of the time, I like to write about things going on in the news. I'm a total news junkie, I spend a lot of time online at various news sites. If I find a story where someone does something totally stupid or I wonder "what were they thinking?" I don't mind pointing it out incase others missed it or taking my best guess at what they were thinking. I like to laugh, I like to make others laugh. There's so much serious and wrong stuff going on in the news that when I find an unusual or light story, I like to use it. And while real life news events might be the focus of many of my blogs, I'm just trying to entertain you, make you laugh and maybe even think about something you didn't know before reading. I'm not trying to break any serious news or deliver any hard-hitting coverage. You'll have to read a paper or watch one of the network shows for that.

Texting strangers is bad (I think)

Posted Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at 3:02 AM

I decided Sunday night would be a good time to do some laundry at one of the local laundry mats here in Moscow. This was a really good idea. I know because 42 other people also decided to do laundry at the same place and time.

I was able to find enough washers to do all my laundry at once -- which is why I chose to pay extra to use the laundry mat over the machines downstairs in my apartments -- though the open washers were spread out throughout the facility.

I emptied my hamper and threw my clothes onto the floor into three piles: whites, colors and darks/jeans, a mixture of the way my mom taught me to do laundry and the single college guy method of doing it. As I was picking up one of the piles to shove into a washer machine, I noticed a piece of paper at the bottom of the pile. This piece of paper was just a small strip of paper with a number written on it in clearly girl's handwriting.

I then had an idea, not a very good idea by any means, but an idea nonetheless. I used my camera phone to take a picture of the strip of paper and sent it to the owner of the number with the following message: "I found your number at the laundry mat and thought it would be fun to text you because, well, there isn't much else fun to do while waiting for laundry."

The following is a transcript of the text message conversation that followed:

Hm that's weird. I guess my friend left it there or something.

I guess. It probably fell out of his pocket. Thanks for not yelling at me for playing around.

Just out of curiosity what is your name?

Robert. You?

Jade.

Cool. (Insert last name of a Jade I know here.)

Nope.

Cool. That's the only Jade I know.

Well have fun w your laundry.

All done, but thanks. Have a good night.

This exchange ended without incident or any negative dialogue, but you never know how these things could go. Now, I've been an uncle for 2.5 months, so I'm not going to pretend to know everything there is to know about raising children, but I have stumbled across a couple of parenting tips I wish to share.

1. Tell your daughters not to give their numbers to guys who will do things with it like leave it on laundry mat floors. There is no need for girls to ever write their numbers down nowadays. Guy meets girl, guy ask girl for number, girl gives said number, guy enters it immediately into his cell phone. Though, if I had a daughter, I'd just tell her not to give her number to any guy at all. In fact, I'm going to call my brother-in-law tomorrow and make sure he knows to tell Ryann Leigh this.

2. You've no doubt given your kids the "don't talk to strangers" speech. Take this opportunity to update this speech to today's world and teach your children about the dangers of texting strangers. Heck, you won't even have to see your offspring to have this conversation. Text, Myspace or Facebook them this message.

Comments

View 4 comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

...and stay away from your cell phones while taking Ambien. You know those commercials that say it can cause amnesia? Yea, it happened to me several times. I texted my boss in the middle of the night one time. Luckily, he's a cool guy! It was nothing innappropriate...but made for good conversation in the office the next day!! LOL!!

-- Posted by LongTimeListener on Wed, Apr 15, 2009, at 9:25 AM
I (thought I) was texting my son one night. We went back and forth a few times. Then I got a call from that number and it was some chick. We had a little laugh and wished each other a good weekend. I felt kinda dumb, but had to laugh anyway. When my sone came home I got the right number. I told him what happened, and we laughed a little more.

-- Posted by VicVega on Fri, Apr 17, 2009, at 8:45 AM
Good advice! However, so far I have been able to keep myself from giving a cell phone to my daughter. I have had several strange encounters via cell phone. However, one was quite interesting. I have a serious sleeping problem with the tendency to want to fall asleep while driving. Due to lack of real deep sleep, I can enter the interstate and within a few miles, find myself hypnotized with heavy eyes. I fear nodding off so the radio is cranked and I tend to sing at the top of my voice. It has been so bad, that I will recite things I've read or just yell total nonsense as I drive. I imagine many a casual passing person has felt alarm when they see me screaming out, "There is a truck, a big red truck. I see an antelope grazing in the fields! Look, there's a car passing with a pale-faced wide-eyed alarmed person in it. Hello! Sorry! Just trying to stay awake!" Thank God I have never had an accident! Ok, so my point! One afternoon, while struggling to keep my eyes open, I tried to call a few people in order to find someone to talk to and hopefully keep myself from taking a dangerous nap. Nobody was available. A few miles of nodding head, droopy eyes and loud music, my cell phone rings. I answer and a strangers voice asks for some unknown person to which I reply, "Sorry, wrong number" I hangup, turn up the radio and sing the song loudly and incorrectly, I'm sure. The phone rings again and I don't hear it but I feel it vibrate. I answer and it is the stranger again. He laughs when I tell him that he misdialed again. Instead of hanging up, he starts talking to me. A mile later, he says, "sorry for bothering you but I just felt compelled to talk" I reassured him by saying, "Actually, I think you have done me a great service. Keep talking and I think that I can make it home without nodding off." I explained my driving sleep disorder and he talked me home. Upon arriving at my house, I thanked the kind stranger and wished him well. About a week later, I was at my place of employment, a retail store at the time, and helped a customer. His voice sounded oddly familiar and struck a comforting cord within my soul. Suddenly, he smiles and says, "Hello, Kim. I hoped I would meet you someday." It was my cell phone stranger in the flesh. We talked a moment. I thank him again and we parted with a smile and a handshake. I've never seen or heard from him again. But I think of him and say a prayer for his well-being all the time.

-- Posted by kimkovac on Fri, Apr 17, 2009, at 10:01 AM
Kim,

He was your angel :-)

-- Posted by LongTimeListener on Fri, Apr 17, 2009, at 7:40 PM

Respond to this blog

Posting a comment requires free registration:

If you already have an account, follow this link to login
Otherwise, follow this link to register