The Subversive…..

The first  “rule” that I was given by my concerned friends was this one. 

Never give out your phone number. 

To anyone that you meet on the dating site…..

……EVER…….

Okie dokie. 

I wondered how I could possibly avoid this if I want to get beyond messaging on the dating site.  After the rudimentary messaging, the phone is the primary means of communication. 

This posed quite a dilemma for me.

After much thought and discussion in my closest circle of friends, one of them finally came up with a solution.

“Here’s what you need”, said my wise friend.  “You need a “burner phone”. 

“Hmmm…….what’s that?”  I said.

“You know”, she said.  “A second phone with a different phone number.  Like the ones they use in spy thrillers.  It’s a throw away.  No one will ever be able to trace you.”

Good idea…. 

I could pretend I was a spy doing reconnaissance on men.  Now we’re talking.

So, the next day, I went to my favorite gadget place with the purpose of getting myself a “burner phone”.  Much to my surprise, the “burner phones” were really expensive.  Not only that, some of them had to be connected to my primary phone carrier.  Then, there were the different plans.  On and on it went. 

My head was spinning.

Why was this so hard?

I am not a super technical whiz, but I am a super traveler.  I remembered that I had an old, unlocked iPhone that I used in Paris on my last visit.  I bought a SIM card there and had a great phone that was cheap and easy to put into service.  What would be different about doing that here?  My “burner phone” could be my trusty iPhone that I already knew how to use.  I checked out this stellar idea with the “gadget guru”. 

“Yes.”, he said.  “That would definitely work. But, it would be easier for you to do this with your mobile phone carrier than with me. They would need to unlock the phone, which I can’t do for you.”  

Since it was clear that this was not going to be one of those “immediate gratification”  situations, I decided to head off in this direction. 

The next day, I went to my primary phone carrier.  Yes.  They were able to do this for me.  The phone was already unlocked.

Easy peazy.

Several hours later, I left my phone carrier with a brand new “burner phone”.   I also left with a brand new primary phone and a subscription to HBO Max.  They were running a special on the iPhone 12, which I had been considering for some time.  The HBO was a perk. 

Score!

And….suddenly I had 2 phone numbers….

….one for everyone I know…

…and one for everyone I don’t know….

When I got home, I couldn’t wait to get my phone set up.  I got the texting feature revved up.  But, try as I might, I just couldn’t get the voice mail to activate.  Several frustrating…and elevated….calls later with my carrier, we decided that I needed to go back to the store and have them help me.

I was frazzled and irritated.

When I went back the next day, the manager looked over my new “burner phone” and announced that the operating system on the phone was too old to be able to activate the voice mail.

“Really?!”  After all of that?  And, now I was locked into a plan.  

Ughh…..

In frustration, I decided that no one needed to leave me a message.  They could just call or text me.  If I found someone I wanted to stay in good touch with, I would break this rule and just give him my “real” number. 

Which is what I did.  But, not after I explained to these potential daters that they could text and call me on the “burner phone” number.  But, they couldn’t leave a message.  The men that were lucky enough to get my “real” number got the full explanation.  It was actually a fun icebreaker.  I told them the story about the “rules”.  I also told them that I could actually be a subversive.  They could decide on whether or not to take a chance.

A few weeks later, I relayed this crazy story to one of my younger friends.

She said, “Haven’t you heard of Google Voice? It gives you everything you need.

….and, it’s free”.

Oh.

My days of being a subversive are over. 

I will miss them. 

It was fun…..

….and, mysterious……

Onward.