Ruth’s phone kept chiming with messages from the family group. Her son showed her how to mute it without missing the messages.
She enjoyed three quiet days.
On Sunday, the whole family arrived for lunch and began talking at once.
Ruth handed her son the phone again and asked whether he could make one more change….
Ruth liked hearing from her family. She liked hearing from them even more when she had finished a cup of tea.
Her phone disagreed.
On Tuesday, it chimed while she was pouring the water. Her daughter had sent a photograph of a new shelf. One son liked it. Another asked whether it was straight. A grandson sent a photograph of his dog.
Ruth put down the teapot.
By the time she had replied about the shelf, the dog had received seven replies and a name suggestion, despite already having a name.
She called her son, Dan.
I think my phone has become too sociable.
He visited after work and found nothing wrong with it.
You can mute the group, he said.
Ruth asked whether that was rude.
They won’t know.
He showed her the setting. Messages would still arrive. She could read them whenever she wanted. The phone simply wouldn’t announce each one.
Ruth watched him send a test message.
The screen changed. The room stayed quiet.
She asked him to do it again.
He did.
Lovely, she said. Stay for tea.
Over the next three days, Ruth read the messages after breakfast and before dinner. She saw the shelf, the dog and a long debate about where the family should eat on Sunday.
She invited everyone to her house. Choosing a restaurant had produced thirty-one messages without producing a restaurant.
At noon on Sunday, they arrived together.
Her daughter explained the shelf. Her eldest son explained why he hadn’t replied. The grandson explained that his dog had never needed a new name.
Dan asked whether the phone was behaving.
Beautifully, Ruth said.
Then three people began different stories at the same time.
Somebody asked for the potatoes. Somebody else asked whether she’d seen a picture of the potatoes. Her youngest son began explaining the best way to roast potatoes while eating his third.
Ruth took out her phone and placed it in Dan’s hand.
Another setting? he asked.
If possible.
What’s still making a noise?
Ruth looked around the table.
Can you mute the group without the phone?
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