I had a missed call on my mobile (cell) phone today from an unknown land-line number. It was from my residential suburb, so I got panicky thinking it was the Dr ringing me to tell me that I was dying, or worse, already dead, or the Real Estate Agent telling me that my house had burned down, or other equally disastrous things.
So ringing back, my daughter answered. My daughter doesn’t have a land-line. She informed me that she was at my house, using my LL to ring a gummint agency that is renowned for keeping people on hold for too fucking long. At least whilst on hold, she could play on my computer in the meantime.
Now in my defence, I live alone and have never had reason to ring my LL. But geez, you’d think it would have tinkled some memory bells, yes?
I know my numbers and my husband’s cell number, but once I input my daughter’s number into the phones, I promptly forgot it. I think it has two 6s in it…
In our household I am The Keeper of the Numbers. I have an uncanny knack of remembering phone numbers, user IDs and passwords, bank account numbers etc.
Mrs Dog on the other hand can’t remember my mobile phone number despite me having the same one for the 12 years we’ve been together (probably due having me on speed dial), neither can she remember our car registration number even though she walks past it virtually every single day.
That one time I forgot our anniversary though, hoo boy, she can remember that baby well enough.
All but two numbers. The rest makes sense, but those two numbers are random.
I’ve changed numbers too many times, and I know too many others by heart, I think. Those two numbers just don’t fit. I remember the postcodes of every house I’ve lived in. Endless phone numbers, my grannies, my family, my friends, my inlaws. I remember phone numbers of childhood friends: 4379363, childhood friend who lived down the road, 4371657 a friend from school. There is just no room for the last two numbers of my own phone number.
I know my landline, my cell, the squeezes cell, mom’s landline, sis’s cell, current irk’s number and the number for Papa John’s because PJ’s number and my landline number are close and having gotten wrong number calls for PJ’s so often, I can tell wrong number callers the right number. Ain’t I just so nice!
I remember phone numbers, account numbers, SSN numbers, ID numbers, all kinds of long passwords but for the life of me I can’t remember my two kid’s cell phone numbers. It’s because the first thing I did after they first got cell phones was to enter their numbers into my cell phone.
I only have a cell phone, but it has two numbers. One is the “real” phone number…that’s the one I don’t know. The other is my Google Voice number that just forwards to that phone. When I left my last cell carrier, I was switching to a pre-paid plan, so I couldn’t “take my number with me” like you can if you just switch between major carriers.
So I transferred my old number to Google Voice for a one-time fee, and it just automatically forwards to whatever my phone’s actual number is.
I do know this, though:
Whoever had this phone number before me has a kid who does NOT like going to school. A few times I month I get an automated call from the local high school saying my child was in in first period. I should probably call the school and get my number taken off their records.
I got a Verizon prepaid phone and apparently a reassigned number. Whoever (One creditor told me his name, but I forgot it) had that number before me was a major deadbeat. The calls have slowed though.
As for the OP, I can remember every number I have, but it took me a long time to memorize the new cell number because it’s so different than the last one. The last cell number and my land line were very close and easy to remember.
I haven’t had a land line in years, and I don’t miss it, but I do still remember the number.
I know my cell number and my wife’s (which is one digit away from mine).
Back in the day, I could pick up any phone and dial up almost any friend or relative from memory. Now, if I lost my cell phone I couldn’t even call my Mom.
You, too? In my defense, I’ve had the cell phone less than a year, and I don’t give it out much. The land line number has been filled into forms and otherwise given out for decades.
A couple of years ago I was in a lecture when my pocket phone began vibrating. That’s rare enough but I looked at the number and it was my own home number. Since I live alone, you can bet that I made my way to the side exit and took that call.
(Turned out to be the building manager, who’d entered my apartment to check on something or other.)
One of my favorite things about cell phone ubiquity is that the number of phone numbers I ever give anyone is decreasing. We haven’t had a land line in a long while. I have a phone at work, but I never give anyone that number. My husband works for a high tech company with an open office - no desk, so no work phone. The two cell phone numbers are all we ever use, and since we’ve had them for ~14 years, I memorized them long ago. It makes filling out contact information forms so much easier!
I forget my phone numbers on occasion. Who calls himself? The number I always had to look up, however, was my work number. I’d call that one maybe once every two or three years.
