New Owner of My Old Work Phone Playing Ugly Games

 

I’m scrolling through emails when my friend’s name appears at the top of my screen. “Jenna,” she writes, “What’s going on? We have two text lines for you and are getting bizarre messages on the other one.”

“I sent only one message today at 9:36 a. m.,” I respond. I am in New York, visiting family and friends, and had made a date with my friend and her husband. I was really looking forward to seeing them but had to cancel after being slammed with a punishing case of laryngitis.

“I sent you a message after we spoke on the phone saying that we were sorry we missed you, and how we looked forward to seeing you again,” my friend continues. “That was on the other Jenna text or appeared to be — it had your photo.”

My heart sinks as I begin to realize what my friend is saying.

“Then ‘you’ replied, “Me too,” followed by “Just kidding. I hate you.” My friend thought I was joking, so she replied with a crying emoji to let me know she understood I was goofing around.

In fact, my friend is encountering an unwilling doppelganger who inherited my phone number, likely a few months after I gave up my office mobile after being laid off. I had sent messages to all my friends about my cell number changing, but knowing that not everyone reads every email, it makes sense that some would hold onto my old number for a while.

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Photo by Devin Kaselnak on Unsplash