Pandemic Watch: Seniors and lifesaving phone calls during the pandemic or other times

Last Thursday, I woke up early for online religious services. We had connectivity problems.

These days, I am trying to stay off my phone. Thanks to Apple’s screen time tracking, I realized I was on too much. That’s done. However, I went to Snap some friends at the organization to see what was up? I noticed a missed call at 6:37 a.m. Eastern with a Framingham, Ma. area code. I figured it was a spam call. Or a recruiter calling from a foreign country using a U.S. number. Job searches during the pandemic or anytime can the topic of a lengthy post. Perhaps even a novel or dark comedy. It could have been one the spammers telling me my auto warranty is about to expire. I haven’t had a car in 10 years. This old post, “Does my father want to go on a Norwegian Cruise? Does he want burial in Riverside Cemetery?” talks about spammers.

I didn’t check the message. I went back to my laptop and was able to log in. At around 8, I finished services and started pouring my Fiber One. Sorry, Tony, I will be back to Frosted Flakes in a few days. “They’re Grrreat.” But sometimes you need a sugar break. I forgot about the message. I saw the iPhone and remembered it.

I listened to the voicemail and almost fell over. It was a lifeline medical alert for my 93-year-old grandmother. I panicked. As my hands stopped shaking I dialed my mom. She is the main contact. No answer. I dialed grandma. Mom answered. She said, “They called you?” I said yes and was very upset I didn’t get the message earlier. Mom told me she fell and got a bad cut. But she’s ok. Mom took her to the urgi center.

As I am penning this, I am upset with myself for missing the message. My grandmother is at the top of the list of the people that truly love me. Her husband, my grandfather did. He’s been gone for too long. It makes me wonder about my phone habits during the pandemic and anytime.

Let me set the record straight.

I don’t sleep with my mobile phone. At bedtime, it rests in the kitchen
I keep it on vibrate. I cannot stand hearing the noise every time I get a text, email, social media notification, etc. It is non-stop. I get hundreds all day. Part of that is my fault
I normally don’t answer the phone unless I recognize the caller. The lifeline call came in as a regular phone number. Perhaps on some people’s phones, it comes in as a medic alert call
I still have a landline. A Vonage one. I will likely never get rid of it. I worked there during its early stages. It was an amazing learning experience

That being said, will I change my phone habits? I am not sure. Sadly, spammers make this difficult. But I may answer or go back to checking the iPhone more often. Thanks to Vonage’s Simultaneous Ring any call coming to my landline rings simultaneously to my mobile.

I noted the lifeline number and added it to my contacts. If heaven forbid it I get another call from that number, I know to answer. Of course, they could have other numbers in their phone tree. Some could be in Massachusetts. Some could be elsewhere. I will pay more attention to numbers from Massachusetts. Just don’t call me to push the Red Sox. I will hang up. But the caller will likely hear a Bronx response.

Other posts can be viewed at:

“Pandemic Watch: There are places I remember,”

https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/pandemic-watch-there-are-places-i-remember

“Pandemic Watch: Sitting on your stoop,”

https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/pandemic-watch-sitting-on-your-stoop

“Pandemic Watch: What does a four-year-old think about our situation?”

https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/21/pandemic-watch-what-does-a-four-old-think-about-our-situation

“Pandemic Watch: Will my nephew ever know how good it was?”

https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/pandemic-watch-will-my-nephew-ever-know-how-good-it-was

“Pandemic Watch: What will happen when I get released on parole?”

https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/15/pandemic-watch-what-will-happen-when-i-get-released-on-parole

“Pandemic Watch: We live in interesting times,”