no international calling
I’m 36-years-old and my father still pays for my cell phone.
Yes really.
I don’t blame you for thinking less of me as the situation is rather absurd. But in my defense, the whole thing was my dad’s idea. This is because by joining forces we were able to get on a family plan and get new phones and save money in the process.
And I had no choice but to go along with it because my dad is Indian and thus securing the best deal always takes precedence over most everything else. Including my self-respect.
Anyway, it was for this reason that I was unable to text or call my husband while I was in Europe.
I mean technically I could have, as my phone was on and working throughout the trip. But when I debated calling Ali to find out why he was not at Harrod’s at the designated meeting spot that he chose, at the time he dictated, and then imagined my dad lecturing me when he received our wireless bill, I decided to exercise some patience.
Here’s how the story ended:
- Ali sent me a text telling me he’d be 10 minutes late.
- He eventually showed up 20 minutes later, huffing and puffing that his “massage went over” and that he “was enjoying the spa facilities so much that he lost track of time.”
- I bit back several rude comments and rolled my eyes instead.
- And then told him, “It appears that your extraordinary talent at making me wait for you knows no geographical bounds.”
Now there’s nothing to do but wait for the sh#$ to hit the fan when my dad sees the pending and surely astronomical international text charges, courtesy of my husband. And his lateness.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
You look gorgeous in the picture Ameena. I liked Maya’s photo too. I know how it feels when your husband makes you wait. I end up giving mine those cold stares.
Thanks Nandita….and I am a master at the cold stares!
Ha – it’s usually me making the hubs wait! that’s so cute of your dad but I know I’d feel guilty as well about all the international calling!
I’m such a prompt person that I can’t even make Ali wait to give him a taste of his own medicine…
This is too funny! Love the photo of you, Ameena!
Thanks Fran!
I so enjoy this – Does Ali have as good a sense of humor as you do?
If it’s any consolation, my hard-working, penny-pinching father (bless him) and I share a joint account so that I will have one in the States, and boy do I think twice about withdrawing!
Ali has a very different sense of humor. He finds shows like “Bean” funny. Or is it “Mr. Bean?”
What’s that chap doing on the other side of the phone booth, and where is the other wheel of that bike gone? Oh I forgot your in London.
I’m home again. I already miss London!
My parents pay for my plan, too. Family plan. Obviously. Plus, I really like my old Missouri number- the process of switching numbers is disasterous!
Okay so I don’t feel so bad now…except that I bet you are a lot younger than me so it makes more sense in your case?
Eh. You’d think a self-respecting 27-yr old could pay her own cell phone bill… right? Oh well. We might as well just be thankful for having such generous parents and not question it. 🙂
I love the way you write Ameena, your posts always give me such a laugh! Last time I was in London, the port-a-potties were not so highly decorated. What? That’s a phone booth? My bad. I’m a big girl. I have my own phone. But *I* am the one who worries about international texting bills 😉
My gosh…now you have me wondering. It is a phone booth…right? Right??
Haha.. funny. Your hair looks glorious, as usual. Love your Chanel 🙂
And I love your comment to Ali. Perfectly executed.
Thank you Lydia. For all the nice things you wrote. 🙂
ameena, i think it is GREAT that your dad is paying for your cell – awesome! my dad always refuses to let me repay him when he gets me items from the market…now if he offered to foot the bill for my blackberry, i would find it hard to say no!!
that being said, i am cringing for you when that cell bill does arrive to your dad!…
love the porta-pottie – what a hoot and i am glad you got a photo of it!
Now I’m totally wondering if it is a porta-potty or a phone booth which is what I originally thought??
Love that picture of Maya! She’s too cute!
And hey, that’s why family plans were created…for Indians to secure the best deal…hahaha! But seriously, I know how it goes! 🙂
Family plans are totally tailored to people like my dad!!
you and maya are beauties! Nothing like some british flag inspired photo shoots to pass the time. International texting is such a pain!!!!
Thank you Daisy! And yes to the international texting being an $$ pain!
Love the pics!!! I am so with you on waiting for people to show up for thing….especially when meeting at a public place. Ahh men lol Yeah I would have texted or resorted to making a purchase lol
Everything in Harrod’s is also overpriced so I managed to refrain. 🙂
My husband is chronically late (although he’s much better than when we were first married), so I feel your pain. I need to figure out what to do about a cell phone while we’re in London, because I like having it handy but don’t want to pay the outrageous charges. I haven’t done much vacation planning yet, even though we leave in a week (!). We of course have flights and hotel booked, and have tickets to the Athletics events the evening of the 3rd and morning of the 4th. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our hands on more once we get there.
So Ali had his iPhone unlocked and bought an international SIM card to use on the trip. It seemed a bit complicated so I didn’t do the same but it worked well for him!
Can’t beat the family plan 🙂
Such a pretty lady!
I can’t believe Ali made you wait…geez!
Katie 🙂
Thanks Katie! And Ali excels at making me wait!!
Would your father notice if we slipped me onto your family plan? haha 😉
You look FABULOUS(!!!) in that last picture. Love the cream monotone look.
Thanks for the compliment Shanna!
Yup, Hubby’s always the late one between the two of us too. I’ve learned to plan on it and so to either bring a book or tell him we need to be somewhere 10 minutes earlier than we really need to be there. Your bitten back response was spectacular.
Not sure why I haven’t tried to tell Ali to be at a certain place earlier than I will be….seems obvious but apparently I’m not too smart these days?
” my dad is Indian and thus securing the best deal always takes precedence over most everything else. Including my self-respect.” AHAHAHAHA. amazing. well at least while you waited you looked super chic! 🙂
Thanks Melissa!! 🙂
You look gorgeous in that photo!! I’m the one that usually makes the hubby wait, but its usually because I keep running around to make sure everyone else’s affairs are in order first 🙂
That’s what’s so funny…I’m running around keeping everyone’s affairs in order and all Ali has to do is take care of himself. And yet he’s still late….
You. Are. Gorgeous.
DAMN YOU!!!!!!
I love that your daddy pays for your cell phone!
You. Are. Too. Kind. Thank you!!
Love, love, love the pictures!! Please tell Maya that she should thank you and Ali for blessing her with such fantastic genes!!
Miss you Jeena! Wish you lived closer.
And thank you for the compliments my friend.
Maya looks just like you in that picture!
I wish I could talk my parents into paying for my phone. However, they are currently paying for my gas, so I guess I can’t really comment. 🙂
With gas prices the way they are these days I think a gas card is a better deal than a cell phone!
The image of your dad trying to secure the best deal and you trying to maintain what you call your self-respect is hilarious. I wish my parents would still pay my bill 😉
Maybe you can bring up the benefits of being on a family plan? 🙂
I’m on a family plan with my parents, too. I have an auto-payment set up with my bank to send them my share every month to maintain my dignity. Although, I’m pretty sure my dad is still giving me a deal…(shrug) I’ll take it. 🙂
You have an auto-payment set up? It never even occurred to me. You are a better person than me Megan…
Whatever saves money right BUT you do lose some flexibility because if you were on your own plan you would have got an international plan for your trip. Unfortunately, you can’t have it all including a husband who’s on time!!
I might trade it all in for Ali to be on time. Just once!!
Hahaha this was too funny. I laughed out loud, but then I thought, it should have been you who had lost track of time in harrods while shopping up a storm ;). Anyways, now you can but the blame on Ali for the charges!! Piya xxx
Harrod’s is great, especially the food halls, but the rest of it is overpriced in my opinion. A gorgeous place to visit though for sure!
I so envy your ability to wear white clothing. Is it because you have a daughter instead of boys? I stopped wearing white as soon as I became a mother (Ok. I should stop blaming it on my kids… the truth is it just does not look good on me because I have the “son-bearing” hips…) Anyway, you look lovely. AND that blue box. Is that a skinny Tardis??
Despite my messy self and child I usually manage to wear white without dropping stuff all over it. I consider this one of my greatest talents (not so many to choose from!).
Skinny Tardis? I need to go Google that one…and I’m back. Is a skinny tardis a public police phone? Interesting…it may have been one!
Also, I did not use to feel this way. But now that I am addicted to my phone, I feel so disoriented whenever I am abroad: No phone. No internet access 24/7!
I have to say it was liberating not to be able to be reached during vacation. I didn’t miss the phone as much as I thought I would!
I wish my dad would pay for my phone bill. That would be way better than me paying for it. On another note, are you standing next to a British porta potty…a phone booth…or is that just some cool sculpture? So hard to tell, but interesting to ponder nevertheless. If you dad give you $hit, just give him my number and I will handle it for you. I’m good that way.
So I thought it was a phone booth but after reading the above comments I am not mystified!! I hope it wasn’t a potty….
You should click on the phone booth and zoom in to the jewels they have sparkling on there.
So you thought it was a phone booth too? Good….
This is hilarious. I think it’s cute your dad pays your phone bill.. and OMG.. do I understand what it means to go over and being a freakin family plan. I used to be on the family plan with my family.. but NO MORE! Every month i was eating up everyone’s minutes.
And I’m sooooooo excited that I’m going to London end of August – kinda just happened. So you tagged – best hotel to stay at in London. What is it? I’m intrigued, but I can’t promise I’ll stay. 🙂
I love two places…the Rocco Forte Brown’s Hotel and the Stafford London (Kempinski). I think both are great due to their location, large rooms, and more importantly, they are spotless! I highly recommend.
So envious of your trip!
When I read “He eventually showed up 20 minutes later, huffing and puffing that his “massage went over” and that he “was enjoying the spa facilities so much that he lost track of time.”” I busted out laughing. I’m still laughing…that is hilarious.
So glad I could make you laugh Andrea!! 🙂
I hope you went to Paris to become a model. Haha.
I wish! But you just made my morning for saying so. 🙂
Haha this makes me laugh because I can totally relate! Let’s just say that after the first month on my iPhone, my phone bill was almost double than what I used to pay on my Blackberry. Somebody got a bit carried away and my mom was NOT a happy camper ;)!
Oh and I’m loving that pic of Maya in Bond Street :)!
Lucky you! My parents kicked me off their plan as soon as they responsibly could. 🙂 As for late husbands – don’t even get me started. The Spanish “loose” arrival/start/meeting times mean nothing to me. YOU.BETTER.BE.on time!! At least you had pretty things to look at in Harrods.
The only thing I didn’t love about Spain? The fact that everything was late. Everything!
I can totally relate to “being in a family plan” coz I am still in one! and international texts and call charges never fail to put me in trouble!!
So glad that someone out there feels my pain. 🙂
Haha, you’re hilarious as always!
Thanks Asuma! 🙂
No shame. But you could have dedicated more attention to the fantastic cream/white combination you’re actioning in the last snap. What is summer if not for this?
I had my doubts that it would work but when packing for such a long trip I am willing to take risks I wouldn’t normally. 🙂
Hey Ameena.. Stumbled upon your blog through random surfing, and since then I am hooked. I spent complete 4 days of my office hours reading all your posts, And, I mean ALL of them. (reminds me of a post where you mentioned – not to start a sentence with ‘And’. 😛
Maya is adorable, and you are a super mom. 🙂
Sameera
Thank you Sameera! Your comment just made my very early morning. I appreciate it!
Anything for a deal! Go dad!
Anything for a deal is right!!
Your dad just wants to keep up with you all, so funny. I must be part Indian too because I’ll do anything for a good deal 🙂 You look beautiful in your chic white pants. I am way too messy (and have messy people, my kids, around me) to wear white.
Thanks Marie! Maya’s gotten pretty good at keeping her dirty fingers to herself. 🙂 And I’m a bit better at putting a napkin on my lap!
Gorgeous pics 🙂
Are you people back already? for next time I would say buy 2 sims of 3 mobile (which are free :)) add 10£ to it and you will have 5000 free minutes for 45 days 3 to 3 😀
give it a go next time .. I irritate my husband with all the free minutes i have got on him 😉
I wish I was back in London but no, we’re back to reality here in Los Angeles. Definitely taking note of your suggestion for the future Asma, so thank you for that!
Those guys definitely know how to press our buttons…
So true. Unfortunately!
I nearly spit my tea when I read the line about your dad’s bargain hunting prioritizing itself above your self respect. My dad is Palestinian. I understand! He insists on doing things for me that I could totally do myself (and do). Ay, gotta love them.
I love him, that’s for sure. His crazy quirks (not this one) just drive me bananas sometimes.
My best friend was dating a guy whose EX girlfriend was paying his cell phone bill (for the record, she never ever listens to anything I say **RED FLAG**, but whatever).
In the grand scheme of getting discounts and sharing plans, I’m gonna go ahead and say that sharing with your dad is no biggie in comparison.
You and Maya look great!! Hope your time off was wonderful.
Red flag is right! So confused by your friend’s bf’s ex?
i think it’s sweet your dad still wants to pay for your pay phone bill!
Me too. 🙂
It is very sweet of your dad to pay the phone bill. Both you and Maya look great in the picture ! Hope you enjoyed your travel !
Thanks GIJ…we had a fantastic time!
Can your dad pay for my cell phone too? Though if Marc was late and said “my massage ran over” I may hit him over the head with it.
I was tempted…no doubt about it.
Am assuming Ali being late wouldn’t be excuse enough for your dad. You should get into a family plan with Ali’s dad….might be the answers to Ali’s tardiness as well 😀
Wish I had someone paying my bills 😦
Good thinking but Ali’s dad never gets mad at him. Ever! He has the patience of a saint…
Oh, and Maya and you look gorgeous Ameena! Did Ali click yours? Just wondering…because R can NEVER get all of me in the frame!
Ali did take my photo! He’s pretty good with the iPhone camera. 🙂