Last month, my teenage nieces (ages 14, 14, and 12) were at my house for Fourth of July. Their mother was out of town and their father wanted to make their nightly call since she had been away.  I offered up the phone that I use for my business, as I pay one monthly fee for unlimited long distance. For several years, I’ve made all my calls with a headset attached to the phone. 

When my nieces saw the headset, their faces lit up. One of them said, “Oh, I’ve been wanting a headset!”  Okay, so I know teenage girls like to talk on the phone. But this really opened up my eyes to the importance of having the proper equipment to keep the conversation going for hours.

I happen to have three headsets.  I’m sensitive to any slight static or loss of clear connection when I’m coaching. At the first crackle, I head to the local Best Buy, pay the twenty bucks and am in business again.  My 13-year old son collects the leftovers for calls with his friends while playing the latest Nintendo game.  It frees the hands for those tricky stylus moves. 

When I offered up two headsets on two extensions, the Girl Contingency practically went wild. The third niece, the one not talking to her mom, put the third headset on, not connected to any phone. She was pleased with herself, even if she had no one to talk to. I was afraid this was the younger version of the Bluetooth phenomena, where you see men in their forties with a hi-tech potato wedge growing out of their ear. It’s unbecoming on grown men but my niece, with her headset leading to nowhere, looked endearing.

My brother decided to play along with his daughters. Here’s a fun photo of my two nieces and my brother on the couch. Two are talking to a real person on the phone and one is just enjoying the moment. Can you guess which one?