A few months ago, I was sitting in front of my big sister’s house having a chat. We fondly refer to her as Sure Sister and for the life of me, I cannot fathom the origin of that name.
Sure Sister told me about crank calls she receives at 3 am in the middle of the night, telling her they ‘have a message from her brother in London’. According to her, she always responds by saying she has no brother in London (in reality, she has two).
After laughing about it, it struck me that she was essentially answering her mobile phone when most sane people were asleep (except me on weekends, of course). I pointed this out to her and she said her phone is always on. I asked her whom she expected to call in the middle of the night and she said ‘you never know’.
Later that evening, I was speaking to Laspapi, expressing my wonder. He agreed with Sure Sister and says you never know when an important call may come in, one which you would not want to miss for the world. Cant it wait? This is Nigeria! Real business only happens in the night, he said, adding, most Nigerians leave their phones on. Excuse me!
Now, me, as soon as I get home, my mobile phones go off and do not come on until I get into the car the following day. I have a house phone for which I don’t know the number and only had it installed because the rigid Sky TV people said it was a condition for me to get the facility, so it never rings. A few years ago, I forgot my phone on and an unknown silly, giggly girl called at 2.30am and thought it was funny, so I find it difficult to understand why anyone would want to leave their phone on. My mum argues it as well and asks how to contact me in an emergency, and I reply, as politely as I can, that if it is an emergency, she should be dialling 999 instead of me. If it’s something that needs my attention, it can wait until the next day.
Now, is the problem me, or you who will not switch off?
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33 comments:
I have the silly habit of leaving my phone on all night..now I call it silly cos I don't care if its the flavour of the month,I WILL CURSE YOU OUT FOR CALLING ME AT THAT TIME OF THE NIGHT...so that said why is it still on? beats me...
lol!!! ehm
it is you jinta oooooooooo..
:D
lol
...
@ afro - hmmm. Do you see what I mean? You can cuss the flavour of the month for disrupting your sleep, however you leave the phone on?
@ pammy - so do you leave yours on?
@ nicky - you said you never turn yours off, you leave it on vibrate thru' the night, so cannot hear it when it rings. Why is it on (this, from a conversation with nicky)
most definitely...
my phone remains on.
Everything remains on...
Pamela, everything remains on??? Ehmmm I know my mind is kind of dirty but everything??????????????
@ pammy - my old ticker's weak o, don't think it can take this - everything remains on?
I keep odd hours and so I am typically awake when calls come in
But I have been known on occasion to dismiss the international caller most rudely for forgetting to subtract six hours from their time....
I sometimes put mine on silent, when i need to sleep properly.
lol@dial 999 haba now!
Merry xmas!
the sweetest, sexiest, most romantic calls (should) come in by midnight. helloooooo?! and i thot i was the married one whose suppose to have the 'right' to be drab!
I usually leave my phones on vibrate at night just for the occasional call from my Mum. And it seems to be thing with mothers, they'd rather call you first even if you are thousands of miles away, than call and emergency number.
.. but Bros, you never hear of FREE Midnight calls?
Nimmo
@ cat - so you never switch off?
@ omosewa - only on silent when sleep is precious, it seems. Isn't sleep always precious? I wake up in a bad mood when my sleep is interrupted cos I normally dont sleep very well
@ isi, fine girl - even when you have to wake up at 5am in order to travel from omole estate into marina like my friend does?
@ n.i.m.m.o. - you're bang on about mothers, and I heard of free MTN/Glo calls, etc, what if you don't want to receive calls from those exercising their freebies?
@ everyone - is there anyone in the house who switches their phone off?
hehehehe!
i'll be calling u by midnight today to wish u a lovely xmas.
so u berra have ur phone on!!!
Jinta, my phone stays on for the alarm clock; so my lazy ass can roll out of bed in the morning. I do however turn off my work mobile because my clients think they own me and call me at all hours for counselling 'pro bono'! amongst other things!! People who need to have my home phone and if that rings I will answer that at any time.
@ nicky - most phones will auto power-on if needed as an alarm. Have you tried that capability on yours?
@ isi - should not be a problem, isi, fine girl, no work for me
2moro
If u think being called at 3am to ask abt a brother living in london that may or may not exist is crazy, what then will u say abt bng proposed to by a guy i don't know from Adam at 2am!!!! I mean, that just topped all d crank calls i've ever got. After that day, i switch off my cell when am ready to sleep & divert my calls 2 d voice mail. If d caller is that serious, let him/her leave a message!!!
@ florida - finally!! Someone that switches off.
I guess I keep mine on due to habit and in case of an emergency. Or maybe its because I’m waiting for a call from my new footballer friend, eh Jinta! Cant miss that call!
see! I hate dis kain of t'ing. Laspapi says important calls come in after midnight...is laspapi an armed robber?
What I said (and you berrar listen well) is that in a land without infrastructure, and where you work for yourse'f, you might be called at any time. And I really did get a call at 10pm once to present a play at Aso Rock. So there. And the one I love calls me at strange hours.
However, if I dont know you/need to hear from you, I'll ignore the call.
ps. The tag "Sure Sister" was first given by the appreciative guards at National Oil (now Con Oil) where she worked each time they were tipped by her. I made it permanent.
lmao...i used to leave my phone on...until i decided i hate being woken up from sleep...but in reality der COULD be an emergency
@ nicky - ah, does your footballer friend sleep and will his call be the emergency? Have you considered buying a pro bono phone so you have a dedicated line?
@ laspapi - armed robber! Small wonder you dont take my calls sometimes.
@ onome - i beg, describe which kain emergency you wan' attend to at 2am in naija...
Jinta - Come on now! He's a footballer! Cha Ching $$$$. And no he doesn’t seem to sleep at the moment. Its the thrill of the chase and all that nonsense.
O Yeh, I do have a work phone that I thoroughly enjoy switching off as I get on the train home. And please, I beg you to remove the word pro bono from your vocab its doing my head in!!!
lol..my phone is on everytime oh even through the night, i still woke up to a booty call last night at 3:23am.
I also have this habit of texting into the wee hours of the night..so go figure.
But sometimes, i turn it off just cos i know someone would be calling that i don't want to talk to.
My dad will agree that you sould have your phone with you and on all the time..even in the shower. i was shocked when he said that once and that it should be with me at all times even if i leave my room to go get water in the kitchen, i should carry it. Abeg jare
@ nicky - now that i'm totally pro bono jealous, how am i ever going to get another good night's sleep?
@ ondlow - dad is always right! So.
i think ppl leave their phnes on for diff reasons, in naija its important cos we have no emergency services, when we had an emergency, we called a brother-in law very early in da morning to rush us to hospital, imagine if his phne was off.My sis on the other hand leaves her phne on because she is perhaps just silly or doesnt like her sleep, she is a nollywood producer and crazy fans call her at 2am,3am etc to say they just saw her film or they want to act, she will scream blue murder, switch off the phne, but leave it on the next night. Merry xmas jinta
@ for the love - the best laid-out reason so far on why ppl leave their phones on, I suppose the locale plays a very important part.
Trust you had a nice xmas.
I am happy i am the not the only one that dont know my house number.
I cant turn my phone off.. Even though i might not pick it up, i will rather see that miss call than not know if i got a call..
its weird i know.
I don't have a cell phone so I can't argue the point. I only have a home phone. I don't like to see people driving around with a cell phone stuck to their ear.
The only reason that I can think of for me having a cell phone would be to call a tow truck if I should have a breakdown on the road.
i resisted getting a cell phone for a very long time.(till i fell for "for emergency " rap
i have the habit of leaving my
cell off for days(this drives my friends nuts!)
i often watch my house phone ring off the hook (usually when there's some party)
the fun is listening to my friends leave threats and verbal rainments.
and the classic " pick up the phone joh,i know u're there"
and after they tire, "joh now, pretty pleaaaase" "am coming over now!"
i still think the cell phone is an
intrusion and part of the information overload prob
Important calls, yeah but, unwanted calls also come with it.....so, 'tis a decision to make.
@ allied - you did not put that as one of your weird points, strange, the compulsion that makes ppl leave their phones on
@ exseno - you cannot imagine how jealous i am - i've been chewing on the idea of throwing away my mobile phones for years now and wondering if i can get away with it.
@ sherri, totally, completely with you. only my house phone never rings, and the couple of times it did, i did not even glance at it, sure whoever it was dialled wrongly
@ rethots - you're right, my friend, absolutely right
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