Make “Mom” a Contact

 {we heart it}

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I was cocooned in my bed with a bad case of the sneezes/coughs/sniffles/sore throat/aches, and after two days and nights of consistent meds and pampering by Matt (being sick is a great excuse to be pampered), I felt better enough to go back to work/school on Wednesday.  However, apparently Nyquil has a longer hangover effect than I realized…

A group of our friends decided to meet on campus and then walk to Starbucks for a  midday caffeine pick me up.  (Having a Starbucks across the street from your office is a horrible blessing.)  As we waited for Matt, I sat on a bench texting away.  Then, Matt arrived, and we skipped off for coffee.  (Ok, I lie, we didn’t really skip, but it sounds ten times more delightful.)  Five minutes later, Matt gets a call from my mom.

Mom: “Matt, are you with Allison?”

Matt: “Yeah.”

Mom: “Please ask her where her cell phone is.”  (Matt disrupts my coffee ordering and asks me.  I begin to look through my purse though it quickly turns into a furious fumble.  OMG.  My phone, my Blackberry, my lifeline, where is it?!)

Matt: “She can’t find it.”

Mom: (laughing as she speaks) “That’s because she left it on campus, sitting on a bench.  Someone found it.”

Matt: “Wait what?  Talk to Allison…” (Apparently it was too much at once for Matt before his midday coffee.)

Matt handed the phone to me and my mom proceeded to explain the phone call she had just gotten.  Apparently, still in a Nyquil induced state, I set my phone down and then waltzed off for coffee.  Someone found my phone sitting solo on a bench outside my office, but since my phone isn’t bedazzled with my initials or anything (which I’m now rethinking having done, clearly it would’ve helped in this situation) they intelligently picked up my phone, scrolled through my contacts to find “Mom.”  When my mom answered, the incredibly wonderful good Samaritan said, “Hello, I just found your son or daughter’s phone on campus, but since I don’t know who they are, I thought calling mom would be a good place to start.”

Umm, how genius is this person?  Scrolling through to find “mom” in my contacts.  Brilliant. 

The moral of the story?  1.  Have your mom’s contact in your phone read “mom;”  no nicknames and no official synced Outlook contacts.  On the off chance a nice person finds your phone, they’ll know who to call and how to get it back to you.  2.  Avoid doing anything for at least 15 hours after you’ve taken Nyquil.  It apparently causes you to forget how to function.

PS: When I told this story to my dad, he vowed to change my mom’s name in his phone to “wife.”  A precautionary measure should someone ever find his lost phone.

PSS: I ended up knowing the awesome good Samaritan who found my phone.  In fact, she is a follower of my blog and a delightfully sweet person.  Thank you Jessica for being such a wonderfully smart person to search for “mom.”  You are a lifesaver; I heart you!