Walkie Talkies

“Taryn to Gadea, do you read? Over.”

“Hey girl, reading loud and clear, Over.”

“I have a humanities paper due tomorrow and it’s not even close to done. F? Over”

“Hahahaha, BUMMER!…. Over.”

             This is just one of the conversations my best friend Gadea and I have every night from 10:30 to 11:00 at night.  Attending a boarding school, being on time is expected. One of those requirements is we have to be in our rooms by 10:30, lights out at 11:00.  Gadea and I have far too much to talk about every single day and not enough time to cover it all, so even after we’re sent to our rooms we continue where we left off. This time it’s a little different than expected.

                       We could easily text, talk on the phone, or video chat, but we decided to be a little different.  With Gadea being only one room down from me, the signal is strong enough for each of us to have a walkie talkie to talk to each other whenever needed.  So once we are sent to our rooms, we flick on our old school talking devices, turn the dial to channel two and continue where we left off, priding ourselves in always saying “Over!” at the end of every sentence and using walkie talkie language like “10-4” and “breaker breaker!”

             Probably one of the best parts of having walkie talkies is that our houseparents have no idea.  We feel somewhat rebellious and different not clearly video chatting or texting, but merely yammering away on the walkie talkies.  It reminds me of when I was a kid and I used to play manhunt with my cousins.  Each member of the searching team would have a walkie talkie so we could inform one another if we found a runner.  Gadea and I, similarly, inform one another not only when we know the house parents are coming in to shut our lights off, but if something outrageous was posted on Facebook, if I got a cute text, or to remind her what time we were getting up.  They make us feel old school and rebellious rather than predictable and regular. 

            One night, Gadea and I were talking on the walkie talkies when one of my houseparents knocked and suddenly entered my room.  She wanted to talk just to make sure everything was going smoothly in my classes and so on.  Just as she opened my door, I stuffed my walkie talkie under my pillow and tried to look innocent.  It’s not as if having a walkie’ talkie was against the rules, but I wanted our little secret to remain secret, and for my houseparents especially not to find out.  She began to ask me about classes and friends but in the chaos of trying to hide my walkie talkie, I never got to answer Gadea’s question. A muffled, “Heellllooooo? Taryn, are you there? Over.”  Came from under my pillow, and I could feel my face getting red.  My house parent stopped talking and pondered at what the sound was but soon after wished me good luck, told me to study hard and left the room.  I grabbed at my walkie talkie, laughing and telling Gadea what had just happened when my door swung open again and my house parent stuck her head around the door and said, “Nice walkie talkies by the way…we can hear you two all the way upstairs.”  And then shut the door. 

            It just goes to show you don’t need the latest in technology to stay in touch with someone.  Even the littlest toy, like a walkie talkie, provides a fun way to stay in touch and make someone’s life just a tiny bit brighter.