In the past six months or so, I have been receiving Spanish-language texts. It's not a constant stream, but nor is it a trickle. As I have unlimited text message capability as part of my cell phone plan, it really hasn't been much of an issue. It's admittedly annoying, but since it isn't costing me anything extra, it's really not a big deal. I usually text a polite response to the sender, informing him/her that their message has been missent, hit the delete button on my phone, and let it go at that. However, the last few times I've responded, my missent message spiel has failed to make an impression on my audience. From what I can gather from my limited high school-level Spanish, my responses are not always taken seriously and I usually receive a laughter-laden reply. It seems "LOL!" really is a universal turn of phrase. The end result is that I usually have to pick up the phone and directly set the Doubting Thomases straight. This is not at all difficult as once my not-so-dulcet tones are heard on the other end of the line, it's very obvious that I'm an English-language speaker through and through.
I have two prevailing theories on the reason why I'm receiving these text messages. I'm under the impression that the intended recipient is a young Latina woman who either has horrific handwriting which is difficult for contacts to decipher or she's deliberately giving out the wrong number to would-be suitors. I draw these conclusions due to the seemingly romantic nature of most of these text messages and based on the fact that whenever I've had to touch base with text-senders, the majority of people I've spoken with (or attempted to speak with) are male. (So perhaps my Spanish isn't quite as bad as I'd originally thought.) In any event, I've concluded it's most likely a case of poor penmanship as the odds of the same wrong number being given out on multiple occasions are probably pretty slim. But you never know.
So, today I received yet another Spanish-language text message. I have no clue concerning the content, nor do I care to check it out on Google Translate. As per my standard practice, I gave the sender a heads-up and considered the matter settled until I began playing around with the account option on my trusty pay-as-you-go cell phone. I noticed that a fifteen-cent deduction had been taken off my tab which immediately set off a red flag as I pay a monthly flat rate for telephone service with unlimited texting. I immediately emailed my cellular provider to dispute the charge as I should not be forced to pay for the missent text message of a total stranger -- no less a total stranger who speaks a language foreign to me. I am still waiting to hear back from my provider, but in the interim, I did a little a detective work and determined that the number the text message was sent from originated from -- of all places -- China. So, in addition to receiving Spanish-language text messages at my location somewhere in the New York Tri-State area, I am now receiving Spanish-language text messages originating from China -- or at least from a telephone number of a cell phone originally purchased in China. Go figure.
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