Screening

Anyone who knows me very well at all is aware that I am pretty much the most non-confrontational person you will ever meet. This transfers over into various areas of my life. For example, my cell phone.

My parents got caller ID when I was in the seventh grade, and I immediately thought it was the coolest invention ever created. My paranoia over answering the phone could now be avoided by checking the identity of the caller before answering. Why I feel such stress over answering the phone, the world may never know. But I can tell you I feel physical anxiety over a call coming in from someone I do not know. You can imagine this did not work out well for me when I was a reporter, or when I worked in a call center at The Seattle Times, or for that matter when I attempt to play the dating game.

Getting a cell phone was a Godsend. I can now track each and every call that comes into my phone and decide to answer it or not. No need to even leave a message anymore… when a friend calls their name appears on my missed call list, and I will return the call whenever I have a free moment. And if I don’t know the person calling, a voicemail can usually guarantee a call back… even if it takes me a day or so to psyche myself out enough to do it.

But during the past 24 hours I have had a very strange cell phone screening experience. Three times yesterday, I received a call from a random 360 number. Obviously, I did not pick up, but was curious why the person would call multiple times without leaving a message. Then this morning before work I received three more calls in a 30 minute period. Again, no message. Then after lunch, another call, no message. At this point I was starting to become annoyed. Either leave a voicemail, or stop calling already. I went to my backup communication method: the text message.

“Who is this and why do you keep calling without leaving a voicemail? I screen my calls so please leave a message,” I sent to the strange number. The result? Another five missed calls within 10 minutes, and still no message. Now this is getting ridiculous. I tracked the number through reverse directory, and it’s a Sprint cell phone based out of Aberdeen, WA. Where I do not know a soul.

A couple people have brought up the point that maybe it’s an emergency and someone is trying to reach me. However, I think it’s safe to say that if I desperately needed to get a hold of someone, I would leave a message saying, “Hey friend, it's me. I really need to speak with you, please call me back as soon as possible.” I mean sure, you don’t leave a message on someone’s cell that their grandma is dead or something, but you can call and say, “Call me back,” right?

Gotta run, my cell phone is ringing again…