I’d just sat down to a nice cup of coffee.
Two sugar sachets are on the saucer. The teaspoon looks rusty and dirty from too many dishwasher washes. Never mind, the coffee looks good, and it’s a beautiful day here on Mumbles seafront.
I take my first sip, and then it begins.
“Hello, Brian, can you hear me……I’m on the mobile……can you hear me, Brian?”
Bit of a pause.
“Brian, can you……what?…….what did you say, Brian?”
Longer pause.
“I’m ringing to find out if…….Brian, are you still there?”
Bit of a pause.
“OK, I’m waving now. Can you see me?”
Pause
“Well, I’m waving. Hold on, I’ll get Margaret to wave.”
Margaret starts to wave her hand.
“Can you see us?”
Pause
“Well, I can’t understand it; we’re both waving. Are you there, Brian? Can you hear me?”
Pause
“Yes, I was ringing to find out if it was working?”
Pause
“No, I said, I was ringing…….Brian, can you hear me? Perhaps you can’t hear what I’m saying?”
Pause.
“OK, I’ll get Margaret to wave again. Hold on.”
Margaret waves again, and a small girl passing by, licking an ice cream cone, waves back at her.
“Can you see her waving, Brian? I’m waving now as well. Can you see us?”
Pause.
“No, I’ve been to the Opticians. My eyes are OK. I wasn’t ringing about that; I was ringing about the……”
Longer pause.
“No, my eyes are fine. They said I could continue with the glasses I’ve had for the last… hello…Brian, can you hear me? Are you still there, Brian?”
He looks at the phone.
“I think he’s gone, Margaret.”
He puts the phone back to his ear.
“Brian, are you still there?”
By this time, I had gulped my coffee down, wanting to get away, but then he looked at the phone again, and this time he closed it up, since it was one of those clam-style phones. I thought about getting another coffee and maybe a cake to continue my people-watching, but then his phone rang.
“Hello…Brian, is that you? Can you hear me?”
Not wanting to find out what he wanted to know was working; Toby and I made a rapid departure.
We enjoyed a lovely, quiet walk home along the beach without the sound of any mobile phones going off.
Have you ever overheard a one-sided conversation? What was it about?
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