Thursday 25 June 2009

Cell phone drama & surgery update.

Everything went very well in hospital yesterday & I was home by 4p.m & desperate to sleep! Chelsea had taken the day off school (it is the last week of term here & exams are finished so they are not doing much) to stay with me. She is really very sweet. When it comes down to the nitty gritty she is always there for her mumma...The last time I had an operation was 5 years ago. It was an 8 hour procedure that required a lot of recuperation & was fraught with complications so I am pretty much put off surgery for life now. Once I was on the wheelie trolley on my way into Theatre I had an overwhelming urge to jump off & run away! How's that for a touch of paranoia???!!! I find anaesthetics amazing...one minute you're wide awake & the next you wake up feeling groggy & it's all over! Medical science...

Chelsea was determined that I was NOT going to get ANY sleep afterwards as she was convinced I would never wake up again as I was attached to a blood-pressure monitor & my blood pressure was kept dropping...The poor girl is rather highly-strung...so I was so glad to have Shane collect me so I could get home & REST, LOL! We went via MacDonalds as the hospital food was appalling, even for day visitors. ( It never ceases to amaze me). I had a craving for a MacFlurry of all things. I am on the most wonderful pain relief medication called Tramacet, that pretty much keeps it under control if taken as soon as the last lot starts wearing off. I am not a good patient & am already bored out of my mind not being able to zoot around in my car (can't drive for a few days) or scrap (can't do it sitting down...) Even this is a bit tricky so am straight back to bed once the saga is told. {*Yet again dreams of laptop...pink Macbook to be precise...*}

Right, onto the cellphone story...Jack has been complaining for a few weeks now about a big (100% rugby scholarship) boy in his grade, that has been threatening to "get him" ever since another boy (an ex-friend who is now anti-Jack as a girl is wooing Jack but ex-friend is obsessed with her) started a rumour that Jack called him a nigger. Jack traced it back to this boy as everyone who heard the rumour said they had heard it from him. This was very hurtful to Jack as we have lived in Africa all our lives, all of us, & spent 25 years under black government rule & do not make judgements on people based on their colour ;-( Anyway, moving on...on Monday this fella (the black one) told Jack "We're gonna get you today..." Right before Jack's History exam. He managed to get the highest mark in class for it, 92%, despite quaking in his boots as to what was going to follow afterwards, perhaps adrenaline increases clarity, interesting...

He had half an hour between the exam ending & soccer trials starting so he did some music bluetoothing with a friend of his, all the while with "the 2" looking on. He then hid his phone in the depths of his satchel & left his bag with the others at the side of the field. Trials were on the lower field, not right next door to where the bags are allowed to be placed, but he could still see them in the distance & noted that "the 2" were still lurking...He finished trials & took his bag to the changing rooms (another stupid rule - they HAVE to change back into FULL school uniform before being collected). His phone was gone, his book-bag was missing, aswell as the latest letter he had received from the young lady after his heart (Jack's best friend lives close to her so collects the fan mail, LOL!) On his way to change he noticed his book bag on the ground close by to where "the 2" were still standing, but was too upset to question them about it (unaware yet that his phone had been stolen) because of the soccer debacle (in previous post).

Jack cried. I can't remember the last time he did that. He is such a busy boy that he hardly has a minute to spend on the pc & he is so self-disciplined about his phone that he hands it to me when he is about to start his homework, so as not to be tempted to use it. It means a great deal to him. He is very social & has hundreds of MXit contacts & recently spent some birthday money on a 2 gig memory card for all his music, that he also loves. Now I was a mother on a mission...and I can get REALLY scary...Phonecalls first, Insurance, service provider, police, followed. Got sim card AND phone blacklisted (after leaving an unmentionable message on Jack's voicemail, threatening police action, hell & damnation!) so that the culprits would be unable to use the sim card OR the handset, thus rendering them both of no use whatesoever.

For some reason I don't understand, Jack's MXit was saved on his memory card. That evening Jack (shrewd boy) phoned the girl, as he suspected the culprit would have been talking to her on MXit & sure enough he HAD! Imposing as Jack of course, he put on an "in love" face (sorry, this is probably meaningless to anyone outside of SA as I think MXit is only a national thing - it is a cell-phone networking application like Facebook) & told her that he was going out with someone else! What a sicko...and stupid to boot...had he not stolen the letter & then spoken to the girl he MAY have got away with it. I had uncancellable appointments that afternoon so could only get to the Police on Tuesday after school, as Jack had to be present to make the statement himself. As a result of all the tears Jack developed a severe headache for a number of hours, thus impeding his ability to study for MATHS (most important exam...) the following day.

Before the exam he found the culprit & told him he needed to speak with him. The {stupid} boy said "Oh, I know, it's about your phone, & I may be able to find out who took it & buy it back off them, then you can BUY it back off me!!!!!!" *Talk about incriminating yourself* So far we have here 1) Defamation of Character 2) Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm - via "the bodyguard" 3) Theft 4) Extortion...And all this at school???!!! I tell ya......Oh, & he hastened to add, when Jack told him that we would be involving the Police & they would have to question him as he & the bodyguard were around the satchel at the time of the incident & because he had just said hemay know who took it, that, as he was under 16 they would not be able to "do anything"! LOL...he had another thing coming...We went straight to the Police afterwards (that took HOURS & is a post in itself, probably to be entitled "Police inefficiency in Africa"!) then phoned another friend to get hold of the boys parents' phone number.

I spoke to the step-father to be, as there is no dad around (could explain a few things...) & mother is away (???) & hey Presto, an hour later, Jack's phone was back in his little hot hands, now unable to be used until I go BACK to the Police to get an affidavit to say it has been recovered then BACK to the Service Provider with it, so that they can send it to Head Office so that they can kick-start it again. Jack put his memory card into Chelsea's phone, only to discover that this delight of a boy had deleted ALL his MXit contacts, so that he could speak to the girl without any of Jack's contacts seeing that he was doing so. Jack has accumulated those contacts over a number of years & for him it is the equivalent of us losing all our e mail or cell phone address book contacts. I attempted to enlist the help of the school but Jack & I had to do all the investigations ourselves, as the school refused to be involved in any way because they have a "no cell phone policy" & thus far it would also appear that neither of the boys have received any disciplinary action.

I attempted to speak to various people at the school & am still waiting for 4 people to return my calls. None of them have. I left a voicemail after hours on the school switchboard (the only way to communicate it would seem) also mentioning the soccer debacle & yesterday Jack had miraculously progressed to the A Team. You know that old saying..."The squeaky wheel gets the grease"...

NEXT EPISODE - Meeting with the step-father to be & how he managed to discover that the boy had the phone...and the consequences at home...tune in same time tomorrow...

11 comments:

Bernadine said...

Helen have been wondering how you are. Thanks so much for the blog post. I am glad you were able to get the cell phone back. :)

Beryldene said...

OMG!!! The LITTLE shiseters!! Well they are lucky they got YOU and NOT ME!!!! Your son sounds AMAZING!! So good on you and your family for raising such wonderful children with values like they have. Hope your recuperation goes smoothly!!

Lynette Jacobs said...

I am glad your procedure went well...now look after yourself...it is for your own good. (Yikes...I sound like my mother)

So glad Jack got his cellphone back...you must be so relieved.

Jenny in Durbs said...

Hey Helen hope you get better. What a time you are having - nothing better than a mom in action beats everyone hands down. Glad Jack got his phone back & hope it ends well.

Stefanie said...

Did I miss what the op was for?
Mxit is international, we had it on DH's phone and could "speak" to the boys from Paris (The one in France) when we were there last year.
CJ also lost his phone at school and the school did nothing, when the phone was recovered it was useless.
I do trust that justice is served for your son
and that you recover quickly. I would even have made you a meal if you didn't live so darn far away.

Ella Swan said...

Thanks Beryldene for those lovely words...Jenny sadly it has not ended well...as the school has refused to assist us in any way on a matter so serious we are withdrawing Jack & he is starting at a new school next term. We have an interview there tomorrow. It is all very sad & disappointing but it was the straw that broke the camel's back & the incident was the catalyst for change. It had really been a long time coming...where he was was just not what we had hoped it would be. A school with great heritage & reputation but currently not able to deliver. It came highly recommended by a close friend who's son matriculated last year so it has all been most annoying...MXit works internationally, I know, ie:- you can use it when you are on holiday to talk back to SA, but I think it originates here & you can't get it independently in other countries. The reason I expect the school to react is because of the circumstances surrounding the theft, as we KNOW who stole it. Stef why did you not unblacklist the phone? Once we do that it will be fully operational again, the only useless thing now is Jack's MXit contact list, but he will just have to reestablish his contacts. Hee hee re: the meal. Shane has been in charge so it has been Steers ;-D

Anonymous said...

So glad Jack got his phone back inthe end, and that is the important thing ... but oh, what a drama!! ...

Jenny said...

What a drama! Glad you got the phone back and that you are recovering

Jacqui said...

Those "precious little boys" are going to carry on living a criminal lifestyle because there is no punishment for them from the school - and what's worse is that they are probably going to carry on getting away with their antics.

Michelle Ramsay said...

You have an amazing family. Well done. Glad the surgery went off well, now just relax and recuperate!! Can't believe what kids can get away with and they think that no-one can touch them!!!

Desire Fourie said...

Sjoe Helen, I am so sorry, I have been neglecting your space here in blog land, just to only find out now that you had some serious surgery. I am relieved though to hear that you are back home on the way to recovery and that the tooth ache was also sorted. My gynae up here in Jhb also suggested the same procedure a year ago for me, but me and hubby thought that it was just a bit of a too severe procedure for the small problems I have, so I opted out. Hang in there, one of these days you're back to standing and scrapping again. Everyting of the best. Hugs from Desire