I was working late this past Thursday night, and didn't answer my cell phone when it rang with a number I didn't recognize. I half expected it to be a gutsy telemarketer trying me at 11pm. Here's the voicemail I got:
"Hi Erin, this is (name of person I knew a VERY long time ago)." How on earth did she get my cell number? "My husband and I will be in New York City this weekend and we're wondering if you can get us free tickets to a show. We know you work on Broadway now, so we thought you might have some connections."
First of all, I don't work on Broadway. I work for a radio station and some of the work I do involves Broadway music. But wait - it gets better.
"If you can get us some free tickets, we'd love to invite you to come see the show with us." Really? You're inviting me to use one of the free tickets that I'm going to get for you? Nice. But that's not all.
"We'd really love to hear what you've been up to. Maybe we could have lunch on Saturday? We're a little strapped for cash at the moment so we can't actually buy you lunch, but if you're okay with paying for yourself, it would be really nice to catch up. Give me a call back and let me know when you're available!"
I fully intended to call her the next morning, hopefully having found a nice way to tell her that I'm not available to see her. (Translation: "I can't get you free Broadway tickets, and I would have no desire to have lunch with you even if you were buying.") When I woke up and looked at my cell phone, I saw that she had called again. There was another message:
"Hi Erin, I don't know if you got my message last night, but..." and she reiterated every word of her previous voicemail, right down to the part about not having the cash to buy me lunch. I kind of meant to call her back sometime over the weekend. It just wasn't at the top of my priority list, and I was busy. By Sunday, I had really just forgotten. Monday morning, I woke up to this voicemail:
"Erin. You didn't respond to either of the messages I left. We're heading home now, so I guess we won't see you. Call me back." Hope she doesn't actually think I'm going to call her back.