Heard from an old girlfriend today (now happily married, as am I, so hush). A quick catch up, then back on the phone for more mind-numbing tech support (see below). Later, I received another call. It took me a while to realize it’s the same person’s phone, having accidentally called me back. Rustling, inside her purse. Laughter. Garbled voices, including hers. Her baby, gurgling. I laughed. I shouted Hello! Again. Made shrill beeping sounds. Then, gave up. When I checked later, same deal. I hollered, I yelled. I even listened in, for a while, before giving up. When I checked again later, finally, dial tone.

I understand this is quite common, but this was the first time it’s happened to me. And I couldn’t help thinking: What an absolutely modern phenomenon, “accidentally” calling someone, while in the midst of your day (picking up the little one from daycare, in this instance).

We’ve all heard horror stories (urban myths?) about cheating husbands or criminals caught this way… But the mix of amusement and voyeuristic curiosity when receiving one of these is undeniable. I wanted to just listen, try to puzzle out what was happening, exactly. I thought I could, briefly, when I heard her voice shift from adult-speak to a baby-coo, louder, closer to the phone. That’s probably when I could’ve screamed, gotten her attention. But that’s when I hung up.

It reminded me of a friend who recently told me about receiving a phone call, late at night. At the other end of the line, nothing � except distant, blood-curdling shrieks, muffled pandemonium. It took a moment, but she finally figured out that what she was hearing was an inadvertent call from a friend, who had earlier mentioned planning to see a movie that night. A horror movie. Makes you wonder how soon someone’s going to package the phenomenon, somehow: Reality Radio. I’m tellin’ ya.