I took looking backwards to the next level this past week by ordering landline service for my home. My daughter is so excited about it. She says, “I feel like an 80’s baby!” This is funny because, although she is referring to the 1980s, it was the 1880s when the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T!) Company was founded by Mr. Bell. She has me calling the house from my cell phone just so she can have make-believe conversations with me.

I purchased a corded phone because it was cheapest, but also so we always know where it is. She asked how long the cord was on my childhood phone, about which I joked, “Not long enough.” Actually, it was long enough to walk from the hallway into the bathroom to sit behind the closed door and talk in private. Of course privacy doesn’t exist if someone quietly lifts up the receiver downstairs and listens in on the conversation!

All this phone talk got me thinking about the game Telephone that we used to play. One person would come up with some silly phrase, like “Purple polka-dotted elephants dance in roller skates,” and whisper it to the next person, who passes it on down the telephone line, until the last person says the message out-loud for everyone to hear. Of course the message is never the same as it started, but it’s something equally ridiculous that makes everyone giggle and roll around on the floor.

At the time, it didn’t occur to me that the game was actually a great example of how rumors begin and spiral. Hopefully we can all catch on to that lesson, quit the gossip, and spread simple, true, and positive messages from now on. Let’s try this: Enjoy Being. Pass it on!