The Mighty Phone Battles

When she’s deaf, and you are also not listening, you have a double problem.

My mother-in-law is a deceptively tiny, fragile, meek, and mild lady. I say ‘deceptive’ because BEWARE if this is your first and only perception. Under all that gentleness is steel, which she wields skillfully and pointedly.

Mum is a very social person. She’s the very definition of an extrovert who enjoys and is energized by interaction with others. I, on the other hand, am clearly an introvert who must regenerate, preferably in the pitch-black dark of a starless, soundless, empty night.

I get exhausted by social interaction, for which I maintain a brilliant smile until my jaws ache. Then I must take a deep breath, blow it out, and close up tight as a clam. I am not attached to my phone. I often miss calls, see the results, and then debate whether I should or should not call back.

Mum answers every call. If she does not answer at the first few rings, we automatically worry. She’d rather hear from us and talk to all her friends and the other relatives than do anything else.

I bring this disconnect of personalities up because it fueled a recent ‘debate’ about the merits of several pieces of less-than-satisfactory technology. The mighty phone battles, the great mobile wars, have yet to be won.

The mobile phone Mum brought with her from home was a gift from my brother-in-law (BIL). BIL bought it from an online site that promised it was the perfect phone for elderly…