It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in January 1999 in Costa Rica.
4:30 pm, and I was in the TV studio of my university. There was nobody in the office at that time.
I was putting the U-matic tapes back on their shelves when my pager vibrated (yes, I had one of those back then; no cell phone yet).
“Hey man, what are you doing? We are going to our usual bar for a couple of beers. Do you want to join us?” was the message my friend Carlos sent me.
I put the “beeper” back in its case and thought, “Why not?” I did not have much left to do, and no homework for the next day.
I finished organizing the last tapes and went straight to my desk to pick up my stuff.
I packed my notebooks in my backpack and walked to the door, ready to head out and join my friends for some 19-year-old-style fun.
(Disclaimer: in Costa Rica, the legal drinking age is 18.)
I was about to turn off the lights when a ferocious ring came from the phone. I did not want to walk back to answer it.
I switched off the lights and was going to close the door, but I kept hearing the sonorous tone of the old phone.
“Damn, I should answer it. I bet it is the same lady who calls every day asking us to air her favorite show again,” I thought.
I turned the lights on again and walked back to the desk, where the old phone was roaring for the fourth time. I picked it up and answered, “Channel 15, this is Oscar. How can I help you?”
The rest is my broadcasting history.
The call was from a journalist at one of the national networks. She had studied at the same university I was attending, and she was looking for a production assistant.
When I hung up, my plans for that day changed, and with them my life.
I sent a message to Carlos’s pager: “I am not joining you today, guys. I am going to a job interview.” Four days later, I started my first paid position in broadcasting, and it has been 27 years and 9 months since then.
Because I went back and answered the phone.
The “phone calls” that nobody wants to answer might be the ones carrying the opportunities that are going to change your life.
Take the call. Maybe it is nothing, maybe it is what you have been looking for.
P.S. Something different this week. I wrote a children’s book! It is called My New Neighbors Are Dragons! (in Spanish, ¡Los nuevos vecinos son dragones!), it is for kids from 4 to 8, and it is already on Amazon in paperback, in English and in Spanish. As an immigrant, I wrote this book to help children learn that being different is not something bad, and that new people coming to our communities can be a great addition. Next week, I will share all the details about the book and the story behind it. If you have kids at home (or grandkids, or nephews and nieces), maybe this one is for them.