Big Money 2

But there was another natural catastrophe that had occurred just as we were flying into Yap, which was about to affect our day. It was waiting in the form of a telex from my sister-in-law, back at the ecolodge. Call your father. My heart jumped into my throat. What could it mean? And where could I make an international long distance call, on one of the most remote islands in the Southern Sea, after the worst typhoon in fifty years.
“You’ll have to go to the Telecom dish.” Said T-shirt.
“Where’s that?” I asked.
“At the top of that hill.” He said, pointing to the sky. Of course, I thought, that’s where it would be. It was 32 degrees. The sun was overhead. We started across the causeway and up the hill. The views of the inlets and bays on the way were beautiful, with wide expanses of silver shimmering off the ocean below, but I was drenched by the time we made the connection to the connection. The official inside the telecommunications office was wonderfully accommodating, and handed me the receiver, even before I had finished thanking him for his efforts. It rang the ring of Northwestern Ontario on the other end of the line, half a world away.
“Hello.” My father answered.
“This better be good.” I said. “I’m paying big money for this call.” He paused for a brief moment, until the voice recognition software kicked in.
“Stay out of the water!” He shouted.
“What?” I said, not getting this at all.
“Stay out of the water!!” He repeated, even more desperate.
“Why?” I asked, confused.
“There are tidal waves all over Asia!” He shouted.
“What?” I asked.
“People are dying all over Asia!!” He said again.
“We’re not in Asia.” I said. And then, there came a long pause.
“Oh.” He said. It became apparent to me that, while my father had always kept up well with news and current events, and knew of the Boxing day Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which had killed almost a quarter of a million people in over 14 countries, his knowledge of geography was still a bit on the challenged side.
“You said you were going to Indonesia.” He said.
“I said we were going to Micronesia.” I said.
“Where the hell is that?” He asked. I told him that it was time for a map, and that I loved him very much. When I hung up, Robyn asked me what was wrong.
“He got his natural disasters mixed up.” I said. And we started back down the hill.