This weekend I was waiting to get picked up to go to work, when my cellphone rings. I didn't recognize the number, so I was hesitant to pick it up, but I did. "Hello?" I say.
All I got on the other end was heavy breathing. "Hello?" I repeated.
Then, the voice says, "Fred? 'That you?" It was an older man and he sounded very upset. "No, I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number."
"Fred?"
"No," I said. "This isn't Fred, you have the wrong number."
The old man, obviously upset, does not give up. "Fred, I need your help...I need a boost...My car's dead..." He's sighing heavily, and out of breath.
"Sir, this is not Fred, nor does this phone belong to Fred. You have the wrong number," I said, getting irritated. At this point, I wasn't sure if someone was prank-calling me, or if this old man was actually in trouble. It's around 9 a.m. on a Saturday, and I didn't think that any of my friends would take the time to prank call me at that hour. It was really bugging me though. I was torn between hanging up, or helping this person. I was trying not to laugh. This person simply wouldn't listen to what I had to say. Honestly, I don't even sound like a Fred.
What made it awkward is the fact that this person wouldn't acknowledge they were wrong, and would not hang up. I sat there on the phone, wondering when the appropriate time was to hang up. I didn't want to be rude...but I was getting a little mad, that he wasn't listening.
I ended up just saying, "Okay sir, I'm sorry, but this is not Fred. I have to go nowwwww....(slowly taking phone away from my ear... looking at it...and...click.)"
Awkward. Sorry pal, hope you got a hold of Fred.
By the way, I am a fan of the occasional prank phone call. Here's one done by Adam Sandler.
oh my gosh I would have been SO frustrated. At my old house, we would always receive phone calls from people we did not know. They were so keen on how they were right.
ReplyDeleteOh Katie this reminds me of this one time I was out with my girlfriends and this guy asked for my number, so naturally I gave him this "fake number" service that my mom gave me a while back (basically its a prerecorded voice that tells the person everything they could have done wrong to get this number, like talking to close, you're too full of yourself etc ect). I have done it many times but this time I ran into the same guy a few days later and he called me out on it hahahaha. But instead of feeling horribly awkward I told him to take the advice of the service and I went on my merry way, a little harsh perhaps ill admit but I felt it needed to be done lol
ReplyDeleteJamie, I have heard of girls who have used that service! Haha. I actually have a similar experience to yours. Tune in this weekend and I'll share it with you!
ReplyDeleteChrissy, a friend of mine had a phone number that was one number different than a "special phone-dating service". Needless to say, men would call her house looking for something that she wasn't offering. Could you imagine? Hahah!! And yes, people never want to admit they called the wrong number! Haha.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me laugh! It reminds me of when I lived in Asia and people would call me by mistake. You would think they would just hang up when they realized I didn't speak Chinese but no, they keep on talking!
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