Funny phone calls

As a reporter/news clerk for the Independent, I take a variety of calls — some with news tips, some with complaints, some with questions. Some calls I wouldn’t think of calling a newspaper for. I got a call this morning wanting a recipe that was in the paper a month ago. If it is something that I feel won’t take too much time, I’ll do some research. Quite a few people call and say, “So and so died sometime in the past 10 years, I only have his first name. Can you give me the obituary?” No. This morning’s lady was “at the lake” and her recipe was at home. She needed to make cabbage-cauliflower salad and she couldn’t remember the ingredients, how much or what to do with them. So I looked back in our newspapers. I know the The Lady Next Door column runs every other Wednesday so it didn’t take long to find the recipe. I read it to her. “Two cups of Miracle Whip...” Well, I think I saved someone’s card party today. Another unusual call was from someone writing a description of a wedding. I told the woman on the phone that we don’t get into descriptions of the gown, etc. on our wedding announcements. She wanted help nevertheless. “What’s another word for “fancy?” “Elegant?” I suggested. She liked that. “How would I describe a floor-length dress?” “Floor-length dress.” She liked that answer as well. After a few more questions, she rang off. The main receptionist gets funny calls all the time. Last week (during the winter storms) Patti got a call asking why doesn’t the city salt and gravel the roads? She gets a lot of calls from people reading in the phone book “Independent” and thinking that means Independent Lumber or First Independent Bank. “Yeah, I need a bundle of 2X4s.” or “My wife’s going to come there and pick up half a bag of roofing nails.” Or “what is your interest rate?” Then there are the people who know they are calling the Independent and ask to renew their prescriptions.