Ice Cream Sundae

 

I’m going to start answering our home phone that way. “Yes, you can have ice cream.” [tweetthis url=”http://ctt.ec/R7ffU”]

It started with my daughter going across the street to Grandma’s house. Within about ten minutes of her leaving the house, I would get a phone call.

“Mom, can I have some ice cream at Grandma’s?”

Most of the time, it was the afternoon and a great time for a treat. Every once in a while it was the middle of the morning or right before a meal, and I would regretfully say, “No, sweetie. Maybe next time.”

This went on for a couple of years.

And then today. She went across the street, and a little bit later the phone rings.

I knew who it was. But it was still a risk. We don’ t have caller ID on our home phone. It could be anybody.

Iย picked up the phone and simply said, “Yes, you can have ice cream.”

My daughter replied, “Okay, ‘bye!”

End of conversation.

But not end of story. Because the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

Why not answer the phone that way all the time?

Who doesn’t want permission to have some ice cream, anyway?

Who doesn’t want a sweet surprise? An unexpected treat?

Friends: You can have ice cream.

 


7 Comments

Arbalestrose · at

Well, that’s all the excuse I need!

At Christmas I would answer the phone “Buddy the Elf! What’s your favorite color?” That was a gamble too, because even with caller ID you still don’t recognize many numbers. That was always fun.

And I’ve never had the guts to do it, but I really want to answer the phone with “It’s done. But there’s blood everywhere…” and hang up.

Thea van Diepen · at

Haha, this is cute. Made me smile. Looks like I’m going to have to call you someday to see if you end up making this your usual phone greeting. ๐Ÿ˜› ๐Ÿ™‚

sparksofember · at

My mother’s maiden name is White. My grandfather’s name is William – usually known as Bill. His normal method of answering the phone was always, “White house, Bill speaking.” Let’s just say he had a lot of fun when Clinton was president. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Teddi · at

An update on how it’s going: The first recipient of my new home phone greeting was someone calling on behalf of the NRA.

After a moment of hesitation, she simply ignored it and followed her script. “May I speak to a Mrs. Deppa-ner?”

Not as much fun as I’d hoped. But hey, that’s only the first caller. We don’t get many calls (thankfully), but surely one of them will have a fun reaction, if I remember to keep it up.

P.S. Don’t be disappointed if you call me on my business cell and I don’t answer this way. I’m only doing it on my home phone at the moment. Heh-heh.

Teddi · at

Another update on this. Over the weekend, the kids were at Grandma’s and the phone rang. I thought it was probably my girl, wanting to ask this very question. The answer was “no”, so I answered with a regular “hello”.

But today I was back on the job, and when the phone rang I answered with a hearty, “Yes, you can have ice cream!” There was a chuckle, a clearing of the throat, and then a laughing, “Uh, can I speak to Mr. or Mrs. Deppner?” (or something like that, this whole conversation is paraphrased)

I laughed. “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”

“No! This is Joe with such-and-such ministry. You’re providing the ice cream, right?”

I joked that I could ship it to him with dry ice to keep it cold.

We had a great conversation, and ended up talking not only about the purpose of his call, but his upcoming design job and some of the things going on in his life.

I love that it cracked the ice and made him chuckle. Totally made my day, too. This is fun! You should try it, friends!

    sparksofember · at

    That is really cool. I’d try it but we only have cells and I usually know who’s calling and would chicken out for strangers. ๐Ÿ™‚

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