We had eight students at home who needed to call into conferences simultaneously
Problem numero uno was that every child in the house needed his or her own phone to “attend” school via conference call. Numero dos was that neither cell held a call in our neighborhood. In order for a call to go through, we needed to drive down the main drag in town and turn off near an empty ballfield and then hold the phone up at a tilted angle hiiiigh above our heads, all while murmuring pesukim from kapitlach vav, reish, yud, zayin, and nun of Tehillim.
When I called the phone’s service provider, the agent said accusingly, “Well, that’s a very popu-layy-ted area! What do you expect?” Well… how about ensuring my phone has service without my having to move to rural Maine?
On the very first day of lockdown, we realized we had a problem. There were eight students at home who needed to call into conferences simultaneously. The seminary girl smugly turned to her parents: “Seeeeee??? I really do need my own phone!” Touché. She would now get her own phone. One down. The pre-1A child would get the house phone, as it was clearest. Two down. One child’s rebbi had everything prerecorded, so he could call when a different child finished. Three down.
The sixth grader was locking herself in her room to listen, so she could take the family phone that drained battery faster than it charged; it would stay plugged in on her desk. Spotty service wasn’t a problem in her case, as more often than not her conference call was “experiencing technical difficulties” and shut down anyway. Four down.
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