I have a message for all of my fellow Wisconsinites….
Stop…being…dumb.
Hmmmm….that’s a very broad statement. I could be referring to any number of things that people are being dumb about right now. Perhaps something Political. Or Religious. Or Scientific. Any number of things. I should narrow my statement.
Dear People of Wisconsin,
Phone numbers have area codes. Stop being dumb.
Let me elaborate.
Over the past few days, my family has received several dozen phone calls and voicemails from various confused residents of our green and verdant state. All of them claim to have received a call from our number. The mystery caller apparently hung up right away or left a blank/garbled message. People would then call us demanding to know who had called them and why. For days my only answer to those callers (some of whom were QUITE upset) was to promise them that absolutely no one in my house had called them. It was hugely frustrating for all involved.
At first I thought it was a problem with Google Voice. We’d made the decision a few months ago to take full advantage of the Google Voice and the relative permanence it offers. Plus we got a kick-butt phone number. It’s not a service without flaws however, and I believed that we were all suffering from a computer glitch. Or perhaps even a malicious hacker.
Then I got a phone call on my cell phone that both enlightened me about the problem and just how dumb people can be all at the same time.
The call came from a number that for all intents and purposes was almost identical to my Google Voice Number…except for the area code. The area code in question (352) corresponds with one in Florida. And it turns out that on the other end of the phone was a very pleasant and very foreign person trying to sell me some sort of crap product or another.
So all of these people in the 608 area code who were seeing mystery calls on their caller id are calling OUR phone number.
After I figured this out, I actually asked one of the people calling me what number had shown up on their caller id. Perhaps they had something set on their phones that did not show the area code.
Nope. The guy who called us actually had the full phone number on his caller id, including area code. “I didn’t recognize the area code.” he told us. So he just dialed without it.
What…the…fudge?
Wisconsinites….if you see an area code tacked onto the front of the number showing up in your caller id, DO NOT ASSUME YOU CAN IGNORE IT. It’s there for a reason. Some damn salesperson in Florida is trying to sell you a home security system. Not me.
Stop. being. Dumb.
