PHONE BOOK, DOES IT MATTER HOW YOUR NAME IS STORED ?

Bizzzzz Bizzzzzzzzzz went my seat, oops had something escaped without my knowledge? Bizzzzz Bizzzzzzzzzz went my seat again, now I got up to investigate what was causing my seat to vibrate.  I realized to my relief that it was my friends phone, apparently ‘love’ was calling. I rolled my eyes as I passed her the phone.  If she stored her  current boyfriends number under the name  ‘love’ I wonder how she stored her former boyfriends number. That thought brought a smile to my face, as I recalled how messy their split had been. The poor fellow, his number was probably stored as ‘fool’ or ‘cheat’ or better still had been deleted altogether.  I guess having ones number stored on another’s phone is a privilege not a right.


 This incident got me thinking about the names in my phone register. In my register were the usual suspects, the Adowa’s, Afua’s, kofi’s, kwame’s, Kwabena’s, Sister Julie, Auntie Christie etc then there were the unusual ones ‘carpenter-blue container’, ‘flat’ (wonder who that is), Jim-big head, operator, Red (probably an Ewe man), ‘Obolo’ and stranger still were the ‘$$$$’   and the ‘****’.  My register made for interesting reading. I started wondering how other people stored my number, God only knows what my number is stored as.  This brings to mind the question, Should one be concerned about how ones name is stored on another’s phone?

The phone has evolved from being a mobile communication device to a digital assistant. These days you can check your bank balance, store your pictures, browse the internet, play games, listen to music, manage your data files and much much more. In other words your phone invariably becomes an extension of your world. With this in mind I think we all reserve the right to determine what, how and who we allow into our world.  My Ewe friend might not take kindly to me storing his number under the name “red’ but if that is the only way I can correctly identify him when he calls, than I reckon I am more than justified.  If my friend prefers to refer to her boyfriend as ‘love’ then she must be justified too, for in her world he epitomizes LOVE.

I am sure most of you have experienced the awkward moment when you call an acquaintance and he/she is unable to identify you and you have to spend 10 mins jogging his memory, am sure you wish he had stored your number appropriately. Next time you reach for your phone to store a number I hope you put much thought into it and you consider how best you can distinguish this particular acquaintance from the dozens already stored on your phone. I leave you with a quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet “What is in a name? That which we call a rose.  By any other name would smell as sweet.”

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