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电话里的朋友A Friend on the Line（第1页）

电话里的朋友AFriendontheLine

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金尼斯·迈克尔·比奇JenningsMichaelBirch

&afriehoutawitness.

—Spanishproverb

BeforeIevenfinisheddialing，IsomehowknewI’dmadeamistake.Thephohensomeoup.

“Yougnumber!”

ahuskymalevoiappedbeforetheliified，Idialedagain.

“Isaidyoughevoiorethephonemyear.

HowcouldhepossiblyknowIhadawrohattime，IworkedfortheNewYorkCityPoliceDepartment.Acopistraiobeded.SoIdialedathirdtime.

“Hey，ansaid.“Isthisyouagain?”

&’sme，”

IanshowyoukhewrongnumberbeforeIevensaidanything?”

“Youfigureitout!”

Thephonedslammeddown.

Isatthereawhile，thereginglooselyinmyfingers.Icalledthemanback.

“Didyoufigureitoutyet?”

heasked.

&hingIkofis...nobodyevercallsyou.”

“Yougotit!”

Thephohefourthtime.g，Idialedthemanback.

“Whatdoyouwantno>

“IthoughtI’dcall...justtosayhello.”

“Hello?Why?”

“Well，ifnobodyevercallsyou，IthoughtmaybeIshould.”

“Okay.Hello.Whoisthis?”

Atlast.Ihadgh.Nowhewascurious.ItoldhimwhoIwasandasked>

“MynameisAdolfMeth.I’m88yearsold，ahismanywrongnumbersinonedayin20years!”

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&alkedfor10minutes.Adolfhadnofamily，nofriends.Everyonehehadbeeohaddied.Thenwediscoveredwehadsomethinginon:he’dworkedfortheNewYorkCityPoliceDepartmentfornearly4meabouthisdaysthereasaoroperator，heseemediing，evenfriendly.IaskedifIcouldcallhimagain.

“Whywouldyouwannadothat?”

heasked，surprised.

“Well，maybewecouldbephonefriends.Youknow，likepenpals.”

&ed.“Iwouldn’tmind...havingafriendagain.”

Hisvoidedalittletentative.

IcalledAdolfthefollowingafternoonandseveraldayslater.Easytotalkwith，herelatedhismemoriesofWorldWarIandII，theHindenburgdisasteraorits.Hewasfasg.Igavehimmyhomeandoffiumberssohecouldcallme.Hedid—almosteveryday.

IwasnotjustbeingkindtoaloalkingtoAdolfortanttome，becauseI，too，hadabiggapinmylife.Raisedinesandfosterhomes，Ineverhadafather.Gradually，Adolftookonakindoffatherlyimportaalkedaboutmyjobandcollegecourses，whidedatnight.

Adolfwarmedtotheroleofselor.WhiledisgadisagreementI’dhadervisor，Itoldmyhiwithhim.”