Friday, January 12, 2007

stranger than fiction

So I had contact with a few random strangers yesterday. The first was two phone messages left for me by "Uncle Bill **" as he called himself. He was calling me, the daughter of Ola **, because his nephew, Rob **, told him he should. He's here in Cali on vacation for a whole month and would really, really love to get together.

After grilling my husband on whether or not there was an Uncle Bill, an Aunt Ola, and a Nephew Rob (which if there was, he wouldn't know it anyway), I called Uncle Bill back with the bad news. He was a sweet, little old man and seemed very disappointed that I was not his long-lost relative. He wouldn't let me off the hook that easily though - he's a genealogy buff and wanted to know the entirety of my husband's parentage. I gave him a quick tour of THAT side of the family (sadly, none of the three names I know were familiar to him). He then wanted to know which part of Scandinavia we **'s hailed from. When I told him where our heritage lies, his disappointment furthered, and he told me the neighboring country in which his relatives hailed. I'm sorry, Uncle Bill, really I am. I wish my ancestors had come from the same place as yours. We'd have so much more to talk about if they did.

I tried to cheer him up with the thought that somewhere we **'s are all related, but I don't think it worked. I think he was looking for someone to hang out with on his vacation here in Cali. I just hope he wasn't looking for a place to stay.

Second random stranger interaction came yesterday in letter form through the mail. I opened a plain-white envelope (hoping not to find anthrax) and in it were two items - my driver's license and the business card of one Brian N. I had lost my license about three weeks ago, and have no idea where I left it. I, of course, unfairly blamed Josh, but that is another story. In true random-stranger-kindness, he chose to mail it back to me instead of posting it on his dartboard for target practice or trying to get his under-aged girlfriend into clubs. I love him for being such a good person. I am now anxiously awaiting his return phone call so I can find out exactly where on god's green earth I lost the stupid thing.

Too bad I already spent three hours at the DMV getting a new license.

P.S. For those of you still in kindergarten, **'s is my last name in code form. Lest one of my many fans turn stalker and come find me. Shouldn't be too hard considering that I leave my license behind.

2 comments:

Annie said...

Hilarious post! Glad you're reunited with your license, even if a bit late to save you from DMV hell. I am writing this from a wireless equipped bakery/ cafe (house showing appointment at my place) and feeling so pleased with myself. Reading blogs, writing e-mails, slaughtering my new year's resolutions with their delicious food. wish you were here!

Travelin'Oma said...

I'm just thinking about this. You're worried about stalkers on the web, but you're giving your whole family history to a stranger who already has your phone number and name??? I know, I know, I'm paranoid, too. But I just have a couple of blonde streaks. I think you might truly be a blonde! (Cute, though.)