Caller ID Is Not Specific Enough

I live in a state of confusion. So, this little anecdote should come as no surprise. I was confused.  I think I'm straightened out now, but one never knows. There are always twists and surprises for me in my day.


Our beach day was planned like so:  I am driving to the beach with the little girls. Just me and them. Fenna is going to the same beach but riding with another exchange student and her host family.  They will put in a longer day but since I have the little ones, I am driving separately and not going to stay as long. I'm bringing boogie boards and a skim board and lots of towels. We'll all hang out together and that's pretty much the plan.  Easy and simple.

Yesterday, I posted on facebook in a private group of mom friends (from all over the country but a few that are in So Cal) that I would be going to the beach today. Yay! One friend responded "Which beach?" and I took that to mean she was interested in where I was going. She's sort of local.

Later in the day, after I'd completely forgotten about my facebook post and all responses, I got a text on my phone. The caller id just showed a number, but it was a local area code. I assumed it was the family of Fenna's friends, I think the mom's name is Rachel. She looks like a Rachel, that name really does fit her nicely. My text said "Hi This is Rachel. What time do you want to leave tomorrow?"  See, her name must be Rachel. It said so in the text.

I replied "I will leave mid-morning and meet you there. Fenna wants to ride with you."  She didn't reply via text again. She probably thought I was drunk.

Later, again, I'd moved on in my mind, my phone was ringing and caller ID showed the same number as before. Once again, I think it is the mom of the two teenage girls we are meeting up with at the beach. No, it's not. But, since I assumed incorrectly I carry on as if my friend is this other lady.

Have you ever had a phone conversation with someone and you completely thought it was a different  person?  Yeah... embarrassing!

Here I was talking with my friend who has a four month old baby and no teenagers and I thought I was talking to the woman who organized a big teen outing.

Rachel said very confusing things to me such as, "Which beach are you going to?", "What time do you want to leave?", "Should we meet up at your house and ride together?", "Are you bringing anything?" and other completely mind bending  thoughts. The conversation was so bizarre until I heard her say "Luka (her baby) and I are excited to tag along".  Whoa, I've been talking to my friend Rachel this whole time?  Luka's mom? By this time in the conversation, I was way too embarrassed to admit that I thought she was someone else even though she's just the sort of person who would enjoy the humor of the situation. Plus, I was super happy that she was coming along! Yippee!

I admitted to Fenna and Keith that I had this crazy phone conversation which left me feeling stupid and they both got a good laugh at my expense. It really was funny. I couldn't  help but laugh at myself by now. I asked Fenna to find out what her friends' mom's name is and text it to me so that I could discreetly find out; I wonder if her name is Rachel also or if I just decided "Rachel" was a good fit.

When I dropped Fenna off at her friend's house, Fenna ran up to the mama and said "What's your name?" and she replied "Lori".  Fenna turns to me and yells "Her name is LORI!"  Great, thanks for that, kiddo. I apologized for forgetting her first name, and she chuckled and said "Most people just call me 'Amber's mom'".  Ahh, I understand that one!

The next day at the beach I was sitting with my friend Rachel and I confessed that I was confused during our phone conversation the day before. But, I wasn't drunk. Just confused. She laughed and said she thought maybe I was distracted by the kids and she didn't think I was drunk or stupid or confused. Much. It was all so very funny! I'm going to laugh about this for a good long time!

This whole incident could have been avoided if caller id would  just give me the caller's name, number and whose mom it is. Life would be easier that way.