Huh?
Friday night I was exhausted. I decided to get in bed at around 8 pm. But it seemed every time I was dropping off to sleep the phone would ring. The first two calls, at 8:30 and 10, were from someone I know. I had to call him back and tell him, dude, no: I’m sleeping; no, I’m in for the night; no; see, I called back to say I’m SLEEPING; sorry; yeah; bye. The third call was different, though. It came at 11:30 pm. My Caller I.D. said “CID BLOCKED.” I didn’t answer, but I was curious enough to check my voice mail a moment later. Sure enough there was a message. I listened. The speaker was mumbly, and hoarse but young-sounding–either a female or a very young male–with… well, not the best speaking and pronunciation skills. The person’s either a prank caller or the most incompetent telemarketer in the world:
[initial pause] “Yes. I am notifying you? That… to be on the lookout for your mail? Because we have sent… a fifty-dollar gift card. Passed by the… company of Macintosh… thank you. Please, if you like… if you have any further questions… call 773-768-3096. 773-768-3096. Thank you.”
Yeah. I have no idea. Since the person left a local number it’s probably not a case of time-zone confusion by some DialAmerica drone on the West Coast. I’ve called the number a couple of times and all I get is a modem or fax signal. And I’m pretty sure that “The Company of Macintosh” isn’t, um… anything. I really can’t figure out what the nature of this prank is supposed to be. The nefarious plot, as far as I can tell is: “We tell people we’re sending gift cards–only we’re NOT! Ha! They’ll go to check their mail and find only their actual, legitimate MAIL. Ha! HA!” I mean, is that it?
And is this a personal thing? Who would wish upon me this nightmare of non-materializing-gift-card disappointment? And why? Why?
