The Persistence of Telephony

Mom got a call the other day from her grandson, Dan, in Iraq. Although Dan's in the Navy he's on detached duty with the Army in Kurdistan. The Navy apparently taught him Arabic. He's a good and thoughtful grandson.

Anyway, Mom was, as always, thrilled by the call. They talked for a few minutes and when Dan hung up she gave the phone back to me. I checked to make sure he was off the line and placed it back in its cradle. Mom, however, continued talking to me as if she were still on the phone. She's done this a number of times and it's always a bit disconcerting because she's talking to me and the conversation makes sense and is appropriate but she acts like she's still on the phone.

So I said, "Dan's gone for now, Mom. I hung up the phone. There's no one there."

She said, "Oh. Well I guess I'd better hang up, too, then," and picked up the newspaper.