After I left primary school in 1988, a classmate who went to a different secondary school and who I wasn't even my best friend during those primary school years would occasionally call me for a chat probably once a year. I had no problem with this. Some time in late 1995, he unexpectedly turned up at my parents' house. We chatted, and in passing I mentioned I was getting a PC for the first time in a few days as well as a game called Championship Manager 2. Big mistake. He turned up (uninvited again) on the day I got the PC and waited for me to set it up so we could play the aforementioned game. He did this regularly over the next few months, always uninvited apart from once when he called late on a Saturday asking if he could come over to play the game, when I said 'no, it's late' he actually said the words 'please, I beg you!'
It got so bad my mum even spoke to me in Greek when he was there (which she never did at any other time) asking when he'd leave or telling me to get rid of him. Then he got his own PC, I 'lent' him the game and didn't hear from him for a long time (and never got the game back).
A couple of years later he started calling again, and after too many calls in a relatively short period of time, I decided I had to cut him off completely. All I had to do was add his mobile number to my contacts and just not answer when he called. Unfortunately he's one of those psychopaths who seemingly gets a new mobile number every time he gets a new phone (what kind of person does this? I've had the same number for nearly 30 years!), so it was impossible to know if a call from a new number was him (which it sometimes was) and I ended up with 5 different numbers for him in my contacts. That's when I resolved to never answer a call from a number that isn't in my contacts ever again, all in a bid to avoid a single person. If it's an important call such as a bank or hospital, surely they'll leave a voicemail?
For the last 25 years, whenever I see a call from a new number, I'm convinced it's him!
There are other things he did in his desperate attempt to come over to play this computer game before I gave him my only copy but this is already quite long so I'll leave them out!
I hate everything about this person apart from the fact they used the phrase, "I beg you." I'm so confused as to why they change their number so often. It makes me wonder if there are others avoiding his calls.
I also find it very hard to answer a call from an unknown number. It's too much of a risk and I'm not even trying to avoid anyone!
Nowadays, even banks don't call so any unknown number is usually a spam call (or this guy).
I know I said I'd leave out other things he did, but I have to mention two more just to reiterate what a complete weirdo he was. One night he was round so late playing this game (he never took hints that maybe it was time to call it a night), I said 'maybe you should stay over, it's a bit late to get the bus now'. He agreed and I offered to get him some blankets and a pillow, he turned them down and just slept on the floor in my room with nothing other than the clothes on his back!
I was at college during this time and used to park my car in a retail park and get the tube from the nearby station. I made the mistake of telling him where this was and what time I finished college on each day. He called one day when I finished at 1pm and said he'd meet me at my car. I decided to go to the West End and just walk around for a couple of hours thinking he wouldn't wait all that time. Wrong. When I got to my car at around 4pm he was sitting on the edge of the pavement right next to the car. And he didn't even question why I took so long.
So firstly, "It would’ve been like him having cousins called Harrison For or Mel Gib or Sylvester Stall." just made me laugh so hard I cried. Thank you for this. Please call me Zena Bir from now on, I like it ;-)
My phone story which still makes me shrink a little to this day was when I lived in a big shared house for the first time. One of my housemates had a French Canadian friend staying with them. She was called Stephanie Vezina. One evening I answered our shared landline (the source of so many phone bill arguments every month!! Pre-mobile phone life phone bills were shared, how did we do that??) A man's voice with a very nice French accent asked
"Please may I speak to Stephanie Vezina?|
I heard, 'Stephanie OR Zena'
So I answered "yes, speaking."
He said "No, Stephanie Vezina."
I said "Yes, Zena." (still only hearing the OR)
He said "Stephanie VEZINA"
To which I just heard and even more emphatic OR ZENA.
We carried on in this vein, both getting more and more frustrated and bewildered until he hung up. I was so perplexed as to what on earth had just happened. I remained confused until breakfast the next morning when I was telling Stephanie that a French man had called for either her or me, but that he didn't have anything to say other than our names. That's when I learnt her surname. And that her dad had called.
When I was about 15 I answered the phone to a salesman. I was immediately confused and panicky. I told the man I’d get my mum. My mum, when she realised it was a sales call, told me to tell them, “no thank you, we’re not interested, goodbye”
Being a drifter from a young age there was no way I could do this. I stood holding the phone for about a minute and then gently replaced the receiver without saying a word. I disappeared upstairs and then the phone rang again. I made no effort to answer it and I heard my mum answering it. The call ended quickly and she shouted up at me, “how dare you just hang up on someone like that. I told you what to say! Don’t be so rude!”
The salesman had called back specifically to say it was very rude to just hang up like that and there was no need for it.
The call that sounded the death knell for my use of the phone came four years ago. Our elderly dog was unwell, so my parents took him to the vet. It was during lockdown, so I stayed at home. Not long after they set off, the house phone rang. It was my Aunt. Having heard the dog was unwell, she rattled on for well over half an hour about her pets, vet fees and numerous other subjects I had no interest in. To my relief she eventually rang off and I was left - not for the first time - wondering how I'd ever get that chunk of my life back. My parents arrived home shortly afterwards, and my father, in an exceptionally emotional state went truly ballistic at me. Turned out the poor dog was so ill the vet had asked my parents for permission to euthanise him. Dad didn't want to make such an important decision without my input but, of course, every time he called he got an engaged tone on the house phone and my mobile (out of earshot) just rang. So they decided to put the little guy down without me there to say goodbye. Suffice to say, from that point on everything went straight to answerphone. Life's too short!
Murphy, although like every other pet he had numerous pseudonyms including "The Little Man", "Little Man B", "Mister Babba Gorgeous", "Smurf", "Trouble" and "Mister Humpety Hump".
Can't believe the timing of this, literally this morning got a message from our health visitor saying my kids had been registered at our local dentist (we've just moved) but I would need to call them to register myself. Instead of the usual putting it off for ages and being FULL OF DREAD I just clicked the number and called immediately. The woman was lovely and I got registered quickly. Messaged my sister immediately to tell her of this MASSIVE BRAVE thing I did, and have been riding high on the adrenaline all day 😂😂😂😂
I’ve always hated making phone calls and I’m so pleased that I can now order takeaways on Just Eat or via a WhatsApp message. The less I need to talk to people, the better. However, it’s hard to think of an item other than a phone that is best used for something other than its primary purpose!
Wow! I remember those phone locks. When my Dad put one on our phone, a friend taught us how to tap out the phone number on the 'hang up buttons'! It was great to be reminded of those times. So funny to think how we didn't have a clue who was calling, and actually picked the phone up with an excited anticipation!
As an avid fan of Tomorrow's World back in the 70s, I loved to see all the weird and wonderful inventions that would be heading our way. My main memory of watching this TV show was when they showed a hand held scanner. It was an early prototype of a photocopier. When the presenters exclaimed that you could scan down the page of a book and print it off, my 8 year old self wondered why anyone would ever need a copy of the page when you had the book right there in front of you!
About 22 years later (I guessed I was 8 previously) I doubted the need for using an email account, and also for having a home computer when I had just qualified to be a reflexologist. Why would I ever need to use a computer??? (I honestly have NO IDEA why or how I even had one back in 1998 in the first place!)
Whizzing forward to around 2010/2011, I could not understand my friend's fascination with her smart phone, and stuck rigidly to have my regular old phone that could text and call people. I don't even think I used it as an alarm clock! She was telling me how useful it would be to check my emails while waiting at the dentist (it's amazing what strange things stick in the mind!) and I was thinking "I'm waiting at the dentist for 5 minutes. Why would I want to do anything other than just sit there and wait patiently while enjoying a moment to myself?"
Clearly I have zero foresight and am probably a hippie at heart!
I don't remember when it was, but I remember commercials showing people all over the world playing video games against each other, either on phones or game consoles. Not sure, but the people were shown outside in various cities. I thought it would never be possible, and wondered WHY anyone would want such a thing.
After I left primary school in 1988, a classmate who went to a different secondary school and who I wasn't even my best friend during those primary school years would occasionally call me for a chat probably once a year. I had no problem with this. Some time in late 1995, he unexpectedly turned up at my parents' house. We chatted, and in passing I mentioned I was getting a PC for the first time in a few days as well as a game called Championship Manager 2. Big mistake. He turned up (uninvited again) on the day I got the PC and waited for me to set it up so we could play the aforementioned game. He did this regularly over the next few months, always uninvited apart from once when he called late on a Saturday asking if he could come over to play the game, when I said 'no, it's late' he actually said the words 'please, I beg you!'
It got so bad my mum even spoke to me in Greek when he was there (which she never did at any other time) asking when he'd leave or telling me to get rid of him. Then he got his own PC, I 'lent' him the game and didn't hear from him for a long time (and never got the game back).
A couple of years later he started calling again, and after too many calls in a relatively short period of time, I decided I had to cut him off completely. All I had to do was add his mobile number to my contacts and just not answer when he called. Unfortunately he's one of those psychopaths who seemingly gets a new mobile number every time he gets a new phone (what kind of person does this? I've had the same number for nearly 30 years!), so it was impossible to know if a call from a new number was him (which it sometimes was) and I ended up with 5 different numbers for him in my contacts. That's when I resolved to never answer a call from a number that isn't in my contacts ever again, all in a bid to avoid a single person. If it's an important call such as a bank or hospital, surely they'll leave a voicemail?
For the last 25 years, whenever I see a call from a new number, I'm convinced it's him!
There are other things he did in his desperate attempt to come over to play this computer game before I gave him my only copy but this is already quite long so I'll leave them out!
I hate everything about this person apart from the fact they used the phrase, "I beg you." I'm so confused as to why they change their number so often. It makes me wonder if there are others avoiding his calls.
I also find it very hard to answer a call from an unknown number. It's too much of a risk and I'm not even trying to avoid anyone!
Nowadays, even banks don't call so any unknown number is usually a spam call (or this guy).
I know I said I'd leave out other things he did, but I have to mention two more just to reiterate what a complete weirdo he was. One night he was round so late playing this game (he never took hints that maybe it was time to call it a night), I said 'maybe you should stay over, it's a bit late to get the bus now'. He agreed and I offered to get him some blankets and a pillow, he turned them down and just slept on the floor in my room with nothing other than the clothes on his back!
I was at college during this time and used to park my car in a retail park and get the tube from the nearby station. I made the mistake of telling him where this was and what time I finished college on each day. He called one day when I finished at 1pm and said he'd meet me at my car. I decided to go to the West End and just walk around for a couple of hours thinking he wouldn't wait all that time. Wrong. When I got to my car at around 4pm he was sitting on the edge of the pavement right next to the car. And he didn't even question why I took so long.
I will never stop thinking about how he slept on the floor with no blanket or pillow.
Where is he now? Is there a Netflix documentary about him 😂😂
I've looked him up, he doesn't appear to have any kind of online presence.
I'll contact Netflix to ask them if they're interested in a sequel to that show that was popular for a few months!
😂
So firstly, "It would’ve been like him having cousins called Harrison For or Mel Gib or Sylvester Stall." just made me laugh so hard I cried. Thank you for this. Please call me Zena Bir from now on, I like it ;-)
My phone story which still makes me shrink a little to this day was when I lived in a big shared house for the first time. One of my housemates had a French Canadian friend staying with them. She was called Stephanie Vezina. One evening I answered our shared landline (the source of so many phone bill arguments every month!! Pre-mobile phone life phone bills were shared, how did we do that??) A man's voice with a very nice French accent asked
"Please may I speak to Stephanie Vezina?|
I heard, 'Stephanie OR Zena'
So I answered "yes, speaking."
He said "No, Stephanie Vezina."
I said "Yes, Zena." (still only hearing the OR)
He said "Stephanie VEZINA"
To which I just heard and even more emphatic OR ZENA.
We carried on in this vein, both getting more and more frustrated and bewildered until he hung up. I was so perplexed as to what on earth had just happened. I remained confused until breakfast the next morning when I was telling Stephanie that a French man had called for either her or me, but that he didn't have anything to say other than our names. That's when I learnt her surname. And that her dad had called.
This is brilliant.
When I was about 15 I answered the phone to a salesman. I was immediately confused and panicky. I told the man I’d get my mum. My mum, when she realised it was a sales call, told me to tell them, “no thank you, we’re not interested, goodbye”
Being a drifter from a young age there was no way I could do this. I stood holding the phone for about a minute and then gently replaced the receiver without saying a word. I disappeared upstairs and then the phone rang again. I made no effort to answer it and I heard my mum answering it. The call ended quickly and she shouted up at me, “how dare you just hang up on someone like that. I told you what to say! Don’t be so rude!”
The salesman had called back specifically to say it was very rude to just hang up like that and there was no need for it.
My phone days ended there. In shame.
This is the most retro cold caller story I have ever heard! They must be hung up on a thousand times a day now.
I feel for the teenage you.
The call that sounded the death knell for my use of the phone came four years ago. Our elderly dog was unwell, so my parents took him to the vet. It was during lockdown, so I stayed at home. Not long after they set off, the house phone rang. It was my Aunt. Having heard the dog was unwell, she rattled on for well over half an hour about her pets, vet fees and numerous other subjects I had no interest in. To my relief she eventually rang off and I was left - not for the first time - wondering how I'd ever get that chunk of my life back. My parents arrived home shortly afterwards, and my father, in an exceptionally emotional state went truly ballistic at me. Turned out the poor dog was so ill the vet had asked my parents for permission to euthanise him. Dad didn't want to make such an important decision without my input but, of course, every time he called he got an engaged tone on the house phone and my mobile (out of earshot) just rang. So they decided to put the little guy down without me there to say goodbye. Suffice to say, from that point on everything went straight to answerphone. Life's too short!
RIP elderly dog. And your phone answering life. What was his name?
Murphy, although like every other pet he had numerous pseudonyms including "The Little Man", "Little Man B", "Mister Babba Gorgeous", "Smurf", "Trouble" and "Mister Humpety Hump".
Mister Babba Gorgeous! Mister Humpety Hump! Love these.
And all safely transferred to our new Lhasa Apso puppy, Merlin.
Oh I’m so glad to hear this!
Can't believe the timing of this, literally this morning got a message from our health visitor saying my kids had been registered at our local dentist (we've just moved) but I would need to call them to register myself. Instead of the usual putting it off for ages and being FULL OF DREAD I just clicked the number and called immediately. The woman was lovely and I got registered quickly. Messaged my sister immediately to tell her of this MASSIVE BRAVE thing I did, and have been riding high on the adrenaline all day 😂😂😂😂
You need some kind of trophy. Surely.
Didn’t call your sister though 😂
COURSE NOT, she'd be as horrified as me if the phone rang 😂
😂
😂😂
Haha!
I’ve always hated making phone calls and I’m so pleased that I can now order takeaways on Just Eat or via a WhatsApp message. The less I need to talk to people, the better. However, it’s hard to think of an item other than a phone that is best used for something other than its primary purpose!
Oh that is such a good point!
When my teenage niece got a camera-phone for Christmas, I couldn’t for the life of me think why anyone else would ever want such an idiotic thing.
Me too!!! I thought it was absolutely crazy - who would want to randomly take photos of things on their phone! Look at us now haha
Haha! How wrong you were.
Wow! I remember those phone locks. When my Dad put one on our phone, a friend taught us how to tap out the phone number on the 'hang up buttons'! It was great to be reminded of those times. So funny to think how we didn't have a clue who was calling, and actually picked the phone up with an excited anticipation!
As an avid fan of Tomorrow's World back in the 70s, I loved to see all the weird and wonderful inventions that would be heading our way. My main memory of watching this TV show was when they showed a hand held scanner. It was an early prototype of a photocopier. When the presenters exclaimed that you could scan down the page of a book and print it off, my 8 year old self wondered why anyone would ever need a copy of the page when you had the book right there in front of you!
About 22 years later (I guessed I was 8 previously) I doubted the need for using an email account, and also for having a home computer when I had just qualified to be a reflexologist. Why would I ever need to use a computer??? (I honestly have NO IDEA why or how I even had one back in 1998 in the first place!)
Whizzing forward to around 2010/2011, I could not understand my friend's fascination with her smart phone, and stuck rigidly to have my regular old phone that could text and call people. I don't even think I used it as an alarm clock! She was telling me how useful it would be to check my emails while waiting at the dentist (it's amazing what strange things stick in the mind!) and I was thinking "I'm waiting at the dentist for 5 minutes. Why would I want to do anything other than just sit there and wait patiently while enjoying a moment to myself?"
Clearly I have zero foresight and am probably a hippie at heart!
Maybe you’re an old soul!
I remember being utterly bewildered by Twitter when people first started using it. I kept saying, “But why…?” I’ve never been an early adopter.
I did not know that the thing about tapping out the phone number. That would’ve been useful on the days we couldn’t find the tweezers!
I don't remember when it was, but I remember commercials showing people all over the world playing video games against each other, either on phones or game consoles. Not sure, but the people were shown outside in various cities. I thought it would never be possible, and wondered WHY anyone would want such a thing.
😂 And to be honest, I still kind of think that.