Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Wrong Number, Israel Edition

I needed to locate a certain person who I knew lived in Yerushalayim, but did not have his phone number. So I did a Bezeq search for his name, Chaim Yankel Schwartz, (not his real name), and found a number. Was it him? There could be a bunch of CYS's in Yerushalayim, but I called anyway.
It wasn't him. He was C.Y. Schwartz, but not the one that I was looking for. I apologized for calling the wrong number, and hung up.
Usually that's the end of the story. But not in Yerushalayim.
A minute later my phone rang back. It was C.Y. Schwartz. Not the one that I was looking for, but the one that I had called by accident. Clearly an older man.
"Hello? You were looking for Chaim Yankel Schwartz and called me a minute ago? I have a phone book. Were you looking for C.Y. and Miriam Schwartz?"
In fact, I was.
"You have a pen? Good. Write down this number."
He gave me the number. I thanked him, and marveled about the fact that a person I had called by accident would take the time to call me back and make sure I got the right number.
I jumped on the computer to share the story with you.
Then the phone rang again. C.Y. Schwartz.
"Hello? I just want to make sure that you've got his address." He gave me the address.
You know how they say, "Only in Israel"? With this one, really, really - "only in Israel."

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