"May I speak with Jennifer, please?"
Nov. 16th, 2004 07:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
afufleEvery year at least once during the decades I was living at my mother's house, I'd get a call, apparently from a little girl, asking, "Is Jenny there?"
The same words, every single time. I'd answer, "There's no Jenny here," every time. I myself may have varied the words a bit, but barely at all. The odd thing is that the girl asking for Jenny NEVER seemed to get any older, the calls never stopped in at least 20-25 years, and I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER said anything like,, "Ah, Jenny hasn't been here for over 25 years, so maybe you'd like to make sure you're dialing the right number? Buh-bye!" Or anything like it.
I feel like that's not me. I would have said something to anyone else, any stranger. What made me think it was really weird was reading the account of a woman who said she'd been regularly abducted by aliens. She would always get a call right after it happened, and the caller was a woman who would say, "Ees Jeemy there?" The same call, every time. That would act as the key to locking the memory up inside her mind, till something bothered her enough to see a hypnotist.
Today, after calling City Hall to find out about vendor's licenses for a friend, the phone rings and it's: "May I speak with Jennifer, please?"
I have absolutely not told my mother where I live or given her my phone number. Since August first of 2002, I have not talked to her over the phone. This is partly because she manages to start an argument or say something that hurts me every time I talk with her. It used to be constant arguments at home, and none since I left the house. NONE. Not with anyone else. So it's not me.
But I digress. If that happens again, the 'may I speak to Jennifer, please', I want to make sure this person gets the right number, or I threaten her even if I look like an idiot. I know Jennifer is at least as common a name as Elizabeth, but I just don't want this to happen again. I know it doesn't sound like the same person, I'm just being very cautious. When I'd called City Hall, I identified myself as Liz, my actual name.
Again, it's just not like me to let this keep happening. I know I've told some people over the years about it, but none of them seemed to think it was unusual. Maybe I just hadn't told them quite how frequent the calls were.
Does anyone else think this is weird? Not the recent call, but the fact I'd get the same calls only at my mother's house, that they were exactly the same, that they stopped, when my mother and my older brother (come to think of it) did not know my number. It's possible I didn't tell my dad either. Or any aunts or uncles or cousins.
Anyway: The little girl asking should have grown up. Her voice should have changed. She should have said, "Oh you're right, I do keep calling the wrong number. I should stop making that stupid mistake." Or whatever.
Okay, weirdness over.
The same words, every single time. I'd answer, "There's no Jenny here," every time. I myself may have varied the words a bit, but barely at all. The odd thing is that the girl asking for Jenny NEVER seemed to get any older, the calls never stopped in at least 20-25 years, and I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER said anything like,, "Ah, Jenny hasn't been here for over 25 years, so maybe you'd like to make sure you're dialing the right number? Buh-bye!" Or anything like it.
I feel like that's not me. I would have said something to anyone else, any stranger. What made me think it was really weird was reading the account of a woman who said she'd been regularly abducted by aliens. She would always get a call right after it happened, and the caller was a woman who would say, "Ees Jeemy there?" The same call, every time. That would act as the key to locking the memory up inside her mind, till something bothered her enough to see a hypnotist.
Today, after calling City Hall to find out about vendor's licenses for a friend, the phone rings and it's: "May I speak with Jennifer, please?"
I have absolutely not told my mother where I live or given her my phone number. Since August first of 2002, I have not talked to her over the phone. This is partly because she manages to start an argument or say something that hurts me every time I talk with her. It used to be constant arguments at home, and none since I left the house. NONE. Not with anyone else. So it's not me.
But I digress. If that happens again, the 'may I speak to Jennifer, please', I want to make sure this person gets the right number, or I threaten her even if I look like an idiot. I know Jennifer is at least as common a name as Elizabeth, but I just don't want this to happen again. I know it doesn't sound like the same person, I'm just being very cautious. When I'd called City Hall, I identified myself as Liz, my actual name.
Again, it's just not like me to let this keep happening. I know I've told some people over the years about it, but none of them seemed to think it was unusual. Maybe I just hadn't told them quite how frequent the calls were.
Does anyone else think this is weird? Not the recent call, but the fact I'd get the same calls only at my mother's house, that they were exactly the same, that they stopped, when my mother and my older brother (come to think of it) did not know my number. It's possible I didn't tell my dad either. Or any aunts or uncles or cousins.
Anyway: The little girl asking should have grown up. Her voice should have changed. She should have said, "Oh you're right, I do keep calling the wrong number. I should stop making that stupid mistake." Or whatever.
Okay, weirdness over.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 02:23 pm (UTC)http://www.livejournal.com/community/harry_potter/2624005.html?thread=25821189#t25821189
I'm like who the hell thinks "bloody brilliant" doesn't make sense as a compliment? It may be a bit gitsy or something, but at least it makes sense. In my little uncle Sam head.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 06:51 pm (UTC)Finally got round to it and what the hell? That is a phrase that of course is in use. 'Bloody' is hardly a taboo word. It's about as shockingly potent as the word 'crap'. And what a pointless thing to nitpick on. Whether you were quoting the book or the film, it was still a quote [of a wizard!]. Thusly you = in the right.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-18 12:52 pm (UTC)Oh jeez, I seem to attract these people, then I feel sorry for them and try to explain. I just left another reply. I'm a bloody fucking nitwit.
(Just looked it up in Merriam Webster and bloody is used as an intensive. who knew? I was thinking it and fucking were used as adjectives in that type of phrase.)(friggin' nitwit dead cat butthead...)(grrr..........)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-18 04:14 pm (UTC)Intensive is pretty much self-explanatory. It intensifies the subject. In the phrase 'bloody brilliant', the noun isn't actually present - it's missed out at [let's say] the beginning of the sentence - "That was" bloody brilliant. In this case, 'brilliant' is the adjective and 'bloody' the intensive.
And that ends class for today. Hope it cleared something up. I just like to ramble about words.