A kind of funny story

It all began with a broken gasoline pump.  And, it ended with an Ethiopian pharmacist.

Last Friday, as Roberto was diesel-ing up the car before our road trip, he ended up having to pay inside.  Upon returning to the car, well... he had been robbed.  His phone and some cash were gone.  Ah, c'est la vie ici, n'est-ce pas?

Because we were going out of town right away, there was no time to stop for a new phone, so Rob was without technology: my dream come true, his nightmare.

Well, last night, he and Girumy went to the phone store to see about getting a new phone.  I put the twins to bed and settled into relaxation.  My phone rang.  Usually I don't pick up for unknown numbers, but I know that Rob has given out my number to a few people, so I figured that I ought to answer.

It was Walgreens, calling to tell me that G's prescription was ready.  The pharmacist continued, "I just wanted to call personally because Girum is an Ethiopian name.  I am Ethiopian."  Ha!  She was so excited about him and asked if we could come and meet her.  I told her that we probably wouldn't, since G wasn't home and the twins were in bed.  She ended up taking my name and number, to invite us to Ethiopian community events in the future.  After hanging up, I thought, "I should go."  So, I pulled the twins out of bed and we went to Walgreens.  We met the very friendly lady, chatted a bit about Ethiopia, wrote down more contact information and then we left.

As I was buckling the kids into the car, my phone rang.  It was my sister from L.A., which isn't unusual as she likes to chat on her drive home.  But, she said, "I am calling on behalf of (the still phone-less) Rob.  He got home and you were all gone."  Oy!

So, I explained to her that I figured he would be gone longer than me, so I didn't leave a note.  He, unwilling to pay $500 for a new phone, quickly returned home and freaked out.  I guess he went around the house looking for signs of sickness or trauma and upon not noticing anything, got a hold of my sister on the computer and asked her to call me.

As we walked into the house, Girumy was manning the backdoor, keeping watch.  Exasperatedly, he said, "MamA, we were about to drive store to store, restaurant to restaurant looking for you.  We were so worried."

All is well that ends well, right?