Unsolicited Greetings

MTN Uganda

Standing outside of the Bomah Health Club and Spa (they do massages, steambaths, and manicures!) after dinner last night, I struck up a conversation with the policeman/security guard.  It was getting dark, and I didn’t want to walk the 10 minutes back alone, so I asked him about flagging down a boda, or motorcycle taxi, to take me to my guesthouse.  We exchanged a couple of pleasantries about Gulu and the weather.

For him, somehow, the next logical question was,

“Can I have your phone number?”

While the answer was a resounding, “No!” I was too polite to say it flat-out.

“Why do you want my phone number?”

“So I can greet you!”

“Greet me?”

“Yes, I will greet you with messages in the morning and in the evening!”

Yes, that’s exactly what I want.  To be greeted morning and evening on my cell phone by random strangers.  Please, take my number.  Give it to your friends, in fact!  I am lonely and need to be greeted!

My boyfriends superiors will be surprised to find that, while they think he has been at work, he has actually (well, according to me) been showing up periodically in Uganda, “waiting for me” back at the guesthouse, and is very very jealous of random people who greet me, especially “morning and evening,” on my cell phone.

This tactic was effective, my phone number is secure, and I am “deploying” Jay with the full back-up of the U.S. Army in these situations from now on.