Grandma: Long Distance Calls - Cell Phones vs. Land Lines

Every Christmas my step-mom bakes and sends the goodies to my family here in NY. When my grandma got the goodie box she wanted to call to say thank you. However, when she tried to call, she couldn't get the call to go through.

When I got home from work that night the first thing she asked me was whether she needed to use an area code when she called Vegas. In my head I was thinking, "Well, since you need to use an area code to call your daughter in Massapequa then yes, you definitely need to use an area code to call your son 20 states away." What I asked instead was which phone she used, the cell or the house phone thinking maybe she used the cell phone and thought the long distance was automatic. When she told me she was using the house phone I told her yes she needed an area code but since we don't have long distance the call wouldn't go through anyway. She asked how she was supposed to call then. Now the thing is, we haven't had long distance in at least 10 years & she's been using 10-10-220 since before I moved here so I'm not sure why she didn't remember that, but ok...

I reminded her about the 10-10-220 thing then said, "You know, you can just use the cell phone Aunt A gave you since long distance is free and it's nighttime so you won't waste your minutes. She said, "Oh, I haven't used that in weeks. I got rid of the cell phone." What? "What do you mean you got rid of the cell phone?" She said, "When Aunt A got me the new phones they replaced the cell phone." Now, if you've read my previous post about the cordless phones, you would know this doesn't make sense. "Grandma, the two phones aren't the same. The house phones are just cordless. They are so you can walk around the house with them and not be trapped by a cord. The cell phone is the one you take with you when you go out so you can call people from the store or mall in case there's a problem, etc." This conversation when on for a few minutes before she finally got that the two phones were completely different.

The cell phone is now charged again and she's been taking it with her when she walks to the supermarket or goes to bingo and she starting using 10-10-220 again for long distance calls, but it was touch and go for a little while there.