Friday, March 19, 2010

A weekend away

On the positive side, not "going along" for these multi-day events gives me a weekend to enjoy my way. I am staying with a dear friend who is also a Masonic wife. Ordinarily, she does accompany her Mason, but she's injured and not able to go.

Works for us. We get time together without the "overlay".

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wives are not default secretaries.

It has begun. This weekend, my husband sent out letters to invite members to serve as his "deputies" during his term as Worshipful Grand Master of the Council of Cryptic Masons in our state this coming year.

This morning, I got the first of many phone calls that start, "Is (insert name) there?, This is (insert name) from (insert lodge) and I got a letter from him..."

My husband is a man of working age and not here during the day. So, my request that they call back in the evening is usually met with, "Can you have him call me back? My number is..." Or more difficult, "Tell him that..." or "I need to know...". I'm not usually in a good place to take detailed message, portable phones have sort of messed up the pencil and pad by the phone system.

I have requested a standard reply from my husband. It will be easier for me to have a canned answer than to try to think of something off the cuff.

I have memories of a pizza parlor we went to when I was a child. It had a sign on the wall: "We have an agreement with the bank. The bank does not make pizza and we don't cash checks." I fantasize something like: "I have an agreement with my husband. He's a Mason and I'm not."

In reality, I think it's time to set up the answering machine with multiple mailboxes and let it handle the traffic. Then, I don't have to deal with the aggravation and the caller gets a standard greeting and a place to leave a detailed message. The only people who won't be happy are the telemarketers and those who want to talk to me, immediately. But, my family and friends know my cell number, don't they?