Megan MonsonFollow

Date Collected

Fall 10-29-2018

Place item was collected

Tacoma, Washington

Informant

Becky Lee

Point of Discovery/Informant Bio

I first met my informant on my mission in Washington. A few weeks after I met her, she met my mom in an online BYU Idaho class. From then on she took it upon herself to take care of me. We frequently met for lunch throughout my mission and remain in contact even now after I’ve been home for a year. She has worked in a variety of offices and has two bachelor’s degrees.

Context

This event took place at my informant’s place of employment, a School District in Washington. She received her first bachelor’s degree in Sociology and was working on her second bachelor’s.

Text

Christi was the secretary for the Director in that office, and she managed the calendar for the director. One day, the director asked Christi who John was that on her schedule that afternoon. Christi said she didn't know. Tracy (the director) was convinced that Christi had put the appointment on her calendar. Christi told her that Tracy had probably just put in a fake appointment to block off that space on her calendar (which had been a prior practice). Tracy was convinced that Christi knew who John was and that he was a real person that was going to come in that day at 2. I was watching & listening to all the interaction. When Tracy left the office for a minute, I went over to Christi's desk and suggested that we find a "John" to be Tracy's appointment. So around 2 PM, I started stalking the main hallway. Finally, a random man walked by who had been in the office building meeting with someone else. I asked him if he would mind helping us out, and explained the situation. He laughed and said sure. So I went back and sat down at my desk. He waited a few minutes, and then came in. Christi, as she normally did, said, "May I help you?" He said, "Yes, my name is John and I'm here for my appointment with Tracy. I'm sorry that I'm a few minutes late." Christi went into Tracy's office and told her that John was here to see her. Tracy came out and said hello. John shook her hand and said hello. Tracy asked what they were meeting about. John said "I don't know, you had called the meeting and invited me over." Tracy was completely confused, and at this point Christi and I couldn't hold in our laughs anymore! It was so funny!! The man played it off so well. We all had a really good laugh over that one.

Texture

My informant sent me this story, and many others, as an email. I had reached out on Facebook to anyone who would submit stories for me. She quickly replied with several stories, each getting longer in length and having more detail. This was the final story she sent me. I can imagine her telling this story, she frequently told me stories while I was a missionary. Her facial expressions typically tell almost as much of the story as her words do.

Course

ENGL2210

Instructor

Dr. Lynne McNeill

Semester and year

Fall 2017

Theme

G6: Pranks

EAD Number

8.2.44

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