The City Calling Post #7

        Remember the days of “Avon Calling!”? As a child, the TV was full with commercials where you would hear the doorbell “Ding Dong!” Then the voice saying, “Avon calling!”   Even as a young girl in the 60’s and 70’s, it still seemed nostalgically old fashioned. However, there was something so grounding about having the Avon lady stopping by every week.  Like clockwork, we could depend on her ringing our bell and my sisters and I often fought over who would answer the door.   My mom seemed to have a 6th sense about when she would show up as she always had a pot of coffee or hot water boiling for tea. When Mom and the Avon lady – who did not have a name, by the way - sat at the kitchen table, we would huddle around savoring every word they said and sampling the products. There was nothing like Avon Calling!

We had been in Mobile for three weeks when our phone rang for the first time. When I had discovered Mobile on the map and began calling Yacht clubs in the area, I told a man from the Dauphin Island club that we were considering moving to Mobile ( as in cell phone sounding mobile), Alabama. The man politely said, “Now Mam, first of all, it’s not Mobile (cell phone sounding), It’s Mobeel with the emphasis at the end.”   He was very polite as he explained that Mobilians know immediately who is not from here by how you pronounce ‘Mobile’. Therefore, I began to proudly say it correctly. Mobeel!   But after moving down here, it seemed that everyone I talked to would say, “Now Mam! It’s Mobeel! Your not from here, are you?” I was very confused, especially when people would say it over and over, yet it sounded the same to me. That is, until one day the phone rang.

          I answered it to hear a sweet, southern, woman’s voice. “This is a courtesy call from the city of MoBEEEEEEL! I am calling to invite you to the City planning meeting that will be held Tuesday, July … at 7:00 p.m. at the Alabama School of Math and Science. At this meeting we will be revealing the city design plans and you will have the opportunity to give your input.……” At that moment, I had two simultaneous trains of thought in my head.

The first one was that “Ah Ha!!!” moment when you finally figure something out. And that was what everyone had been trying to tell me.   It’s MoBEEEEEEL – with an emphasis on the second syllable as though there is a very long beel at the end. That sweet southern voice made very clear!

The second train of thought was, “Oh my Gosh! The city calls it’s residence to invite them to city meetings???” In all my years of living up north, the city had NEVER called my house! Yet, here I was, brand new in the Deep South and the ‘city’ was calling me to invite me to a meeting!

Two nights later, we went to the meeting and ironically, the news media interviewed Les for the evening news – like he knew something at that point – but that’s another story. The next day, the phone rang again with another local number on it. I picked it up and again there was our sweet southern bell who, this time said, “The city of MoBEEEEEL would like to thank you for attending the city planning meeting at the Alabama School of Math & Science!” Her beautiful voice and accent went on with a fairly long recorded message but I was lost after the first sentence. “How the hell did they know – aside from Les being on every news broadcast – that we attended that meeting???” I thought at the time, “This could be a good or a bad thing!”, as thoughts of the Stepford Wives ran through my mind. What if we have really moved to Stepford?

         A week later, the phone rang again and there was a Jimmy Carter-like voice that said, “Hello! This is Mayor Sam Jones! The rough draft blue prints based on input from of city planning meeting are now on display at the Civic Center (or wherever they were) and we invite you to come down and view them at any time between 8-4 on weekdays. These drawings are based on the feedback given at the ASMS meeting on July…” This time I was ready! Previously, I discovered that when the recording was over, you could push a button to hear it again. So I began dialing my cell phone to my son in New York to put the message on his voice mail. Then to my brother in Panama City, and my sister in Oklahoma City. Not only was it cool that the “city” called, but the accents, the voices, was so stereo-typically southern!  And you could listen to it up to six times!

          We have received many more calls from the city; A change in garbage night, a change of a parade route during Mardi Gras, another meeting, a weather warning! It only took about three calls from the city before my kids and I, began running for the phone, fighting each other off so that we could be the ones to hear the message first. Like waiting for that best friend to call, or that long awaited call from the opposite sex, we clamored to be first to answer the phone. We still aren’t sure how they knew we attended the meeting, and we certainly aren’t sure how they do what they do by calling the residents to keep them up-to-date. But one thing I know, just like the Avon Calling of years gone by, I like this kind of service. I like being in the loop – or at least thinking I am. I like the lady with the sweet southern voice who taught me how to say MoBEEEEEELLLLL! I just plain like this town!