When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones
in
our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall.
The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach
the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to
it.
Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived
an
amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was
nothing
she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the
correct time.
My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while
my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the
basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but
there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give
sympathy.
I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally
arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the
parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in
the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information, please" I said into
the
mouthpiece just above my head.
A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.
"Information."
"I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone,
the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.
"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.
"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.
"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.
"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer
and it hurts." "Can
you open the icebox?" she asked. I said I could.
"Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your
finger," said the voice.
After that, I called "Information Please" for everything.
I asked her
for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She
helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in
the
park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.
Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called,
Information Please," and told her the sad story. She listened, and
then
said things grown-ups say to soothe a child.
But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds
should sing
so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of
feathers on the bottom of a cage?" She must have sensed my deep
concern, for she said quietly, "Wayne always remember that there are other
worlds
to sing in."
Somehow I felt better.
Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please."
"Information,"
said in the now familiar voice. "How do I spell fix?" I asked.
All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When
I
was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my
friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box
back
home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on
the table in the hall.
As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations
never really left me.
Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene
sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding,
and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.
A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down
in Seattle . I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15
minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without
thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said,
"Information Please."
Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well.
"Information." I hadn't planned this, but I heard
myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"
There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I
guess
your finger must have healed by now."
I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder
if you have any
idea how much you meant to me during that time?"
I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant
to me. I
never had any children and I used to look forward
to your calls." I
told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could
call her again when I came back to visit my sister.
"Please do", she said. "Just ask for Sally."
Three months later I was back in Seattle . A different voice answered,
"Information." I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?"
she said.
"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally
had been
working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks
ago."
Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, did you say
your name
was Wayne? "Yes." I answered.
"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you
called.
Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him
there are other
worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean." I
thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.
Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.
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