Hey you!
It's mother's day today and I'm writing this while listening to Abba: Super Trouper. Abba is one of my mom's favorite artists.
Growing up, on most Saturdays, I'd wake up to it playing on the stereo while my mom did the routine Saturday clean-up.
But this is not what I want to write to you today.
Now listening to Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive
Another memory from my childhood that lives rent-free in my head is this big telephone we had. It was called landline and we installed one in our house and another one in my grandma's room. We basically had those phones so my mom's sister abroad could call us occasionally.
This song has a way of getting you on your feet. I'm dancing in my living room and screaming, "I will survive".
As kids, what was fascinating about the telephone for us was how loud and jarring it was when it rang. When my granny's phone rang, we would race across rooms to be the first one to pick it up. And because we didn't understand privacy yet, we would sometimes listen in on the other end of the line with our own phone. Using a phone at that time was weirdly fascinating.
Now listening to Abba: Mamma Mia
Once, I asked my mom what it was like growing up without a phone. She said they wrote letters to each other, wrote down numbers in phone books, and then queued up at Nitel offices to make calls. She remembers that her father was one of the first to own a telephone, those kinds that you spin around to dial numbers. This is another thing I find fascinating.
I happened to be born around the time when Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the use of GSM. Not everyone had access to a cellphone, you had to go to call centers and pay 20 naira per minute for a phone call. It seems like such a long time ago.
Slowly, we evolved from smartphones that used buttons to the touch screen ones we have today, and somehow we figured how to use them. I wonder how consumer education was like; introducing a touch screen phone and getting people to use it.
I had good memories as a kid. I imagine that children nowadays wouldn't experience the thrill of running across rooms to pick up a telephone. Kids as early as 6 years are playing around with smartphones and tablets, with such finesse.
Now listening to Abba: Dancing Queen
Parents like to talk about how obsessed young people are with their phones. But you know who's obsessed with her phone? My mom. I came home this weekend and met her using her phone while cooking. We had dinner by 10 pm that day 😆
All night, she excitedly shows me the videos she took in church, her new pictures, messages from her sister. I'm glad she doesn't send me WhatsApp BC....yet.
But really, one thing I'm even more glad about, is that she has something to keep her company as we (her children) gradually leave home.
And for this, I'm grateful for technology.
P.S. I'm looking to buy new books but I'm undecided about which ones. If you read a good book you loved, please recommend it.
Thank you for reading and don't forget to share this newsletter.
Have a good week! 🤩
On conversations and big loud telephones