A rose is a rose
Bong Makes a Call to the Phone Company
Sharing Stories
October 10, 2022 at 6:15 a.m.
...by Pete MacDoran
Our adopted daughter was away at school at the University of California, Berkeley, better known just as CAL. She needed to make a quick trip home and the easiest thing seemed to be to coordinate arrangements with a telephone phone call. It seemed straight forward enough.
Bong could just coordinate with the phone company.
Question: To what city and phone number are you calling?
Answer: Boulder, Colorado, 303-395-2700
Question: What person in Boulder are you calling?Answer: My dad, Pete MacDoran or my mom, Judy MacDoran.
Question: Who shall I say is making this calling:Answer: Tell them that it’s Bong calling.
Phone Company Operator:Reaction: Laughter. Wow, it sounds like your folks were real Tokers at CAL.
Response from Bong to telephone operator:I’m from Viet Nam and my name means “FLOWER” and I was adopted by Americans… SO JUST PUT THE DAMN CALL THROUGH.
Pete MacDoran is a Washington resident and author of The Old Men Will Die First: A True Story of Cold War Espionage: MacDoran, Peter F.: 9781530749041: Amazon.com: Books.SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).
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