Love at a Payphone

"I'm going to have to write a post about you answering the phone when we were on the way to the park," I said to A. last night, "I love that you are the type of person who can't pass by a ringing payphone without answering it."

"Well yeah," said A., "You never know who it's going to be. And he was a nice guy."

"Exactly!" I said, "It's like the beginning of a movie, I think."

"Not a romantic one!" said A., "He said that he was of a 'certain age' which certainly means he was old."

"No, no, it doesn't have to be like that," I said. "Let's see, it starts like it actually happened, but I think we'll cut me out of it. You're out for a stroll with Cipote. On your way to the park you pass a turquoise Oi payphone. And the phone is ringing. Immediately without thinking twice you answer it saying, 'Alo?'"

"It's the man on the other end, The Man of a Certain Age," says A., "And he's asking if I had just called him, was I responding to the personal ad he'd placed? 'Oh no!' I tell him, it wasn't me. It couldn't have been me since I have a boyfriend...but maybe it was my friend, I know she's interested in something like that."

"Right!" I say, "And then instead of it ending with you politely wishing him good luck, hanging up the phone and going to the park with Cipote to watch kids playing in the fountain --"

"Ok," says A. "We'll forget about how joyful the children were when they were playing with abandon in the fountain." 

"So, instead of that tranquil ending, you hear how much loneliness is in the voice of The Man of a Certain Age. And since you're the type of generous person that will accompany strangers to the pronto socorro emergency hospital, you agree to meet this man. And a beautiful friendship blooms between the two of you. Now you want to find him a partner...so you're setting him up on all these dates with your single friends...But, unfortunately something goes wrong on each of these dates. Something funny of course, since this is a comedy....But you're at the end of your rope and you don't know what to do for this poor Man of a Certain Age. You're out walking Cipote again one afternoon and all of a sudden a Woman of a Certain Age starts telling you how much she loves your dog!"

"The woman who we really did talk to right before I picked up the payphone!" says A. laughing. "She was so funny. Do you remember how she said that at her age she wasn't jealous of anyone except people with dogs for pets. She told us that she had been married for 50 something years and made us guess how old she was. She was 80, right?"

"Something around there."

"She looked great for her age! And her husband who wouldn't let her have a pet. And she, for love, decided it was better to keep the peace than fight for one. But she told her husband, 'The day after you die, you know there'll be a dog living in this house!'"

"And so...in this movie, you run into this woman again. You've been trying to set The Man of a Certain Age up with eligible women for months with all these wacky mishaps and nothing's working out. And this woman is now out walking her own little dog and she compliments yours. You realize in a flash that her husband has died. She confirms this and says that she's been a widow for many months now. She always thought a dog would help her fill the void, but it hasn't. She feels lonely still. And looking at her you realize that she is the The Woman of a Certain Age who would be perfect for The Man of a Certain Age, who conveniently happens to adore pets. You set them up. It's love at first sight! The movie ends with you walking down the street leaving the two lovebirds and their pets to fall in love. You're walking down the street with Cipote and the same payphone rings again. You look at it and raise your eyebrows. We're left wondering if you will answer the phone again...The end."

"Oh my gosh Alison," says A., "I think you're really tired. You better go to bed."