Cross atlantic family drama

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This weekend my phone fell in the toilet and I will do my utmost to never let that happen again. What felt like a stupid error on my part – blossomed into a cross Atlantic family drama. Now this may sound like an exaggeration and I am not thrilled about it as I do not like to draw unnecessary attention to myself - but I did.

Ok - so this is what happened. As you know, in our modern lives our smartphones are always at hands reach. It is a bad habit for everyone - so no finger pointing. Well, it was a cool Friday evening and pleasant weather for a nice walk around my neighborhood. I did not plan to take a bag - only my telephone as I love to make photos and I might get a call I don't mind responding to. Just as I was about to leave the house – nature called. No – not on the telephone. 🤣 To ensure a comfortable walk, I decided to heed the call and go to the bathroom. I slid my telephone into my side pocket and to my horror when I stood up – the telephone fell out of my pocket into the toilet.

Reflexively, I fished the telephone out of the toilet bowl. Grossed out and frustrated, I disinfected the phone and my hands several times. Then I thought of the telephone drying hack by placing it into a bowl of white rice. I had never tried this method before but I decided to give it a go. Thereafter, I went a few streets away to a friend's place and called a telephone shop. As the shop was about to close, I was told that it was best that I bring the telephone in on Saturday morning.

Well you know how Saturdays are – I slept in and by the time I got to the shop – it was a bit too late to get back the phone on the same day. Luckily, they are opened on Sundays so I could pick it up the following day. I met with some friends on Saturday night and had a fantastic time and did not miss my telephone at all.

Little did I know what was "brewing" outside of my immediate world. My mother who lives in the Florida tried to call me Friday evening. When she could not reach me after several attempts - she called my brother in England. She told him that I was under the weather the last time we spoke – so she was worried. She also added that I always respond timely and if I could not speak - I would send a brief text message. Sometimes I speak to my mom daily and if need be, several short calls in a day but this is not always the case. Sometimes we do not speak for an entire week. It depended on what is happening in our respective lives. My brother sent me text messages - I did not answer those either.

Anyway, my mom was worried. Thereafter, she also called my younger brother in New York. He tried to call me as well and got no answer. My older brother then decided to call a cousin who lives 30 minutes drive away from my house. My cousin did not think there was cause for concern because he had spoken to me a few days earlier. Then my mother also called our cousin - who told her to relax. She was annoyed that our cousin did not have the sense of urgency that she thought was needed. She asked my older brother to call the police. Calling the police took some effort with a lot of online form filling from overseas. However, they said they would do a health and welfare check within 48 hours - unless the call was cancelled in the interim. This was not good news for my mother. She was disturbed and restless.

On Sunday evening, I went to pick up my phone and was feeling quite happy. Upon returning to my street, I noticed that there were 3 police cars there. I recognized a few neighbors as I approached. Then I realized that everyone was staring at me. Blimey!! The police had rung my doorbell and when I did not answer, they rung the neighbors doorbells too. One neighbor told them that he saw me leaving the house that very day. The police told me that had a neighbor not seen me, they would have forced my door open. They explained that the health and welfare check was instigated by my family who lives abroad. I was in a state of shock and felt a bit strange.

I was not sure whether I should be happy that my family cared so much that they could not reach me or whether I should be upset that they created such a drama. In any event, I was happy that threafter I could quell the nerves of my family. Now we need to figure out how to avoid such dramatic situations going forward - as I don't want to have unnecessary contact with the police.

This post is in response to @galenkp's Weekend Engagement Concept. I chose:

Choose a sentence to finish from the below list and write at least 300 words to complete it:

. This weekend my phone fell in the toilet and I...