It’s happened again.
This is the third time.
Someone gave out my phone number as theirs, and now I get their calls.
The first time, it went on for years – women would refuse to believe that I was keeping their man from them and subject me to all sorts of interrogations. Mothers looking for their daughters would burst into tears (this happened three times) when they realized that the “nice boy” had lied to them. Only when the “nice boy’s” boss called looking for him did the calls stop. “Oh, I’ve been getting his calls for years – usually teenage girls.” Oh to have been a fly on the wall when he and the boss did finally connect.
Anyway, in the last month I’ve been getting another round from a fresh source – three messages on my answering machine, including one left at 6 AM, plus plenty of collect calls. This woman owes someone money, and the people calling refuse to believe that I don’t know her.
It’s all quite annoying, but is also a very strong message: I will never, ever, EVER default on any sort of loan, even if it means a lifetime of Ramen noodles. Oh, yes, and cheap beer.
4 comments:
For a number of years I had a phone number that once belonged to a law firm which had gone belly up. One past client in particular could never quite understand this minor detail. They left repeated messages asking to chat about their particular wares. One evening in a fit of exasperation, I answered their call (ah...the wonders of Caller ID). The caller finally understood when I said "Well...So & So Law Firm went out of business several years ago. This now a residential number and no one living here is a lawyer, but I would be more than happy to dicuss your wares with you at great length. I happen to be a great fan of eating shellfish." Twenty minutes and a few recipie tip exchanges later the caller hung up and was never heard from again.
When we lived in Indy, we used to get a lot of wrong numbers for a gynecologist. Believe me, it was embarrassing for everybody. As for the Alexander Technique, I'm a big fan with the right teacher. I had a great class in college, a weeklong intensive Jan term thing. It was terrific and I still use things I learned there to help me depressurize and also to keep proper alignment in yoga classes. I tried another class later because I'd liked the first one so much and it was awful because the teacher was such a flake.
Can't wait to have that happen to me:)
Soo many responses to give...so little time!
When we signed up with the previous cell service provider, it turned out that the phone number assigned to my wife's phone must previously have been assigned to someone in the commercial ... errr, uhhhh, sex business. It seemed that about every time she powered up her phone, she had a bunch of voice messages, most of which were from males who were trying to arrange "short sessions" at various local motels.
Being the ever-helpful type, I suggested (after I quit laughing) various ways in which she could amuse herself by setting these guys up with appointments that would never be fulfilled, etc. She didn't see the humor, and was in fact quite upset; she immediately demanded and received a new (and non-notorious) phone number.
Even though the phone itself was brand-new, for a while she handled it as if it needed a long soak in Lysol. It was pretty funny, really.
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