Forgot My Phone Number

I must memorize my number. It’s rather embarrassing when legitimate sources ask for it and I mumble an excuse while scrolling down CONTACTS looking for it. It happened so often, I saved it as Nonqaba.

By legitimate sources, I mean the dentist, post office or government offices and not creative strangers I meet on the street who stare, greet and ask for the number even before they say, what’s your name? One day I said I don’t have a number and the phone rang in my handbag. The stranger looked at me accusingly.

‘You said you don’t have a phone.’

‘No, I said I don’t have a number.’

I digress. Back to saving my phone number in my phone. I have very good reasons for doing that.

1. I changed the old service provider. The new phone company gave me a new number with a second area code for the same city. I guess the city is growing by leaps and bounds, it warranted a second area code. I don’t know. I must call the Mayor for clarification.

2. Secondly, I don’t call myself. There’s no need because of text messaging, What’s app and other means of communication. During the pandemic, even my COVID-19 vaccination certificate, just slid into my phone.

What is baffling though, are people that call me from Ontario, Asia and some parts of the U.S. telling me that I owe the government or some bank money. How do they get my closely-guarded number?  Tell me, how do fraudsters sleep at night? No problem. May their souls not breathe in peace. In the meantime, I don’t take calls that start with 1-800 or have strange area codes. Chinese spammers make me laugh because they speak in Putonghua, a language I can identify, because I used to consume a lot of Chinese movies when I lived in Toronto, the home of world movies.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger