Comments on: Wrong number

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:20:24 +0000

When we first moved to Florida we were given a phone number that had previously belonged to a man who had gone into inner city ministry. We got several calls for him from distressed persons wanting prayer. So, we would pray with them and talk to them.

After a couple of months we met the man at the home of some friends from our new church so were were able to forward his calls after that.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 11:45:05 +0000

We’re using Vonage to maintain a Canadian phone number that reroutes to our number over here – that has fairly obviously been reallocated too, as we’ve had someone from the Medicine Hat Registry phone up about a car registration, and someone phone up about some unpaid bill. Usually takes quite a bit of explaining to get over that we’re thousands of miles away…

By: JT

JT — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 09:58:44 +0000

Today, 007 is the prefix for Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan* and a couple of other -stans. Has Mr Bond defected?

I once got a voice mail in a foreign language, and I recognised the last word “parakalo” as being Greek, so I got my Cypriot colleague to listen. It was a message from his mum.

*Kyrgystan – 9 letters but only 1 vowel!

By: ruth

ruth — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:30:15 +0000

With land-lines they used to lengthen the number when they’d run out of numbers. So when we moved to Shropshire in the 1970s, our phone number was only three digits long. (The man who lived opposite us was called James Bond and his phone number was 007, and that is no word of a lie).
By the time we left in the 1990s our phone number was 6 digits long.

I hope that they don’t change my mobile phone number. I’ve had it for donkeys now, along with my mobile phone which is as big as a brick (almost) and gets lots of incredulous stares. It still works, why change it!?

By: MB

MB — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 05:43:45 +0000

Of course it's more fun if the person whose mobile number you inherit is more famous than you are - here's someone who got American Comedian Chris Rock's mobile number.

By: thomas bushnell, bsg

thomas bushnell, bsg — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:06:14 +0000

once many years ago i was with my parents for Christmas, and a woman unknown to us called, asking for another person unknown to us. the poor woman desperately wanted to speak to her dearest friend on Christmas, and insisted that this was simply the only number she had for her. my parents had this phone number for perhaps thirty years, and it was impossible that the caller had the right number ever. nobody had ever had that number but my parents.

the caller was sure, however, and called more than once in desperate frustration. it was very sad and we did not know what to think. i still don’t; i think of this unknown woman and her Christmas desire to call this important friend.

By: Jane R

Jane R — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:31:27 +0000

Oh, I don’t know. I volunteer for my college’s sexual assault response hotline and we carry a mobile phone when we are on duty — the number gets transferred around to the person on duty — and apparently it is the former number of a nursery (the tree-growing kind, not the child kind) so I have gotten at least two calls wanting to order many pounds of mulch! Better that of course than getting a call from a student who has been raped.

By: Maria Palma

Maria Palma — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 23:39:31 +0000

Yes, I’m sure it does mean something. A friend of mine called a wrong number one day and ended up getting a business deal out of it…Nothing is by accident!