An elderly Queensland widow who found great comfort and companionship from a series of spam Trumpet of Patriots texts is concerned that the messages won’t continue after the election.
Mildred Boyle, aged 84, lost her husband nine years ago, and says that the daily texts she’s been receiving from a “mystery man” called Trumpet are the closest thing she’s had to a new relationship in years.
“All my friends have died, and the kids never call, so it was quite the little rush when this Trumpet chap starts messaging,” Mrs Boyle said. “Very direct he was too. No small talk or “how are yous”, but I quite like that in a man. He certainly had very sensible views on immigration.”
Mrs Boyle said her Trumpet suitor always acted like a perfect gentleman, but she did sense a “flirty tone” whenever the conversation turned to foreign students. “I felt like a schoolgirl again, sitting by my phone, waiting for him to text,” she said. “I mean, at my age you don’t expect to ever fall in love again, but I guess it’s not every day you meet someone as compatible and considerate as H Fong.”
Staff at the Goondiwindi Retirement Village, where Mrs Boyle now lives, observed that several of the facility’s elderly female residents had a new spring in their step since the Trumpet of Patriot texts started arriving.
“It’s extraordinary,” said the facility’s assistant manager. “All this time we’ve been giving them meds, when what they really all needed was some daily contact with a semi-racist spam bot.”
Mrs Boyle said she hasn’t heard from new friend since Friday, but assumes he’s just been too busy to write. “I do get anxious when I don’t hear from him,” she conceded. “And I sometimes worry that he was only texting me because he wanted my vote. But that would be silly. Surely he knows I always vote One Nation.”
