# How many people could you call at any hour? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214 "2011-01-11T11:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Incref](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@Incref](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incref)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/1 "2011-01-11T11:48:28Z")
Inspired by the current best friend thread I was wondering how many people you could count on to talk to you at anytime? I’m not saying an emergency, just you could interrupt them at work or during sleep (something inconvenient) and they would still maintain a conversation with you for as long as you needed to talk. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/2 "2011-01-11T12:13:44Z")
What I’m getting from your OP is that it’s not a true ‘emergency’ (like the house being on fire or a heart attack or something), but then use the phrase ‘need to talk’. While needing someone to talk to really _isn’t_ an emergency, there are two people I would call at any hour if I did need to talk. One is my husband (he works out of town, so he’s gone all week), the other is one of my sisters. I have four sisters, but I’m only really close enough to one of them that I would call her in the middle of the night or something. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/3 "2011-01-11T12:27:31Z")
Most of the people I know have jobs where they can’t take phone calls, so that limits it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/4 "2011-01-11T15:41:04Z")
I can’t think of anyone that I can reach 24/7 if I need to chat. I might be able to wake up one of my parents in the middle to the night but they sure as hell won’t just chat with me. My best friend is in Germany and I don’t even have a phone number for him. It was kind of depressing to pick zero but I can’t think of anyone who I wouldn’t tell to get some sleep if they called me in the middle of the night to talk. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/5 "2011-01-11T15:47:37Z")
I was going to say zero - I don’t think even my SO would be too happy about it, unless I was really upset about something - and then I realized my brother would probbaly take a call from me at any hour, and talk for as long as I needed. That’s a comfort, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/6 "2011-01-11T15:58:12Z")
None. If I call you knowing I’m waking you up from a sound sleep, there’s an emergency. I’m no nancy-boy who needs to inconvenience others to talk about my _feelings_. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/7 "2011-01-11T16:03:02Z")
Well, I _can_ call anybody at any time- but there are probably 10 people that would talk to me at any time and not yell at me and hang up. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/8 "2011-01-11T16:20:48Z")
Where is this best friend thread to which you are referring? ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/9 "2011-01-11T16:31:25Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Where is this best friend thread to which you are referring? [Found it.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=592425) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/10 "2011-01-11T16:34:54Z")
I wouldn’t even think of calling anyone at a strange hour for a non-emergency. The last time I received a call at an odd hour was a quasi-ermergency last summer (at least for him, not for me). An acquaintance (I wouldn’t even call him a friend) wanted to borrow my utility trailer so he could tow his golf cart to a golf tournament he was playing. He called at 5:15 am on a Saturday Morning. I actually was awake, but I thought for sure it would be a wrong number or an actual emergency. FTR, I would have let him borrow the trailer, but it had a flat tire. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/11 "2011-01-12T00:37:15Z")
If it’s idle chit-chat at a strange hour, I think only my parents would be happy to talk. If it was a non-emergency but a really dire episode of loneliness, then I have about 2-3 friends who probably would work up the enthusiasm for a brief chat. Probably. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/12 "2011-01-12T00:39:23Z")
One cousin and one friend; but all three of us have known each other and known each other to keep strange hours since we were kids. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/13 "2011-01-12T17:48:10Z")
Would or could? I _could_ call my mom, my three sisters, or (I’m pretty sure) four of my nearest and dearest friends at any time and they would chat with me for a bit. They might be annoyed, but they would do it. Would I do this? No, I got over the drunk dialing habit back in my early 20s. Now that I think on it, maybe that’s why I have so many people that I feel like I could call any time - because it would be so out of the ordinary for me that they’d feel compelled to go along with it just that once. That being said, because of oddball schedules and sleep patterns, there is a friend or relative that I can count on being awake, alert, and near a phone 24/7 anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/14 "2011-01-12T18:07:09Z")
There are several people who would hear me out if I called in the middle of the night, but I would never do that for a non-emergency. I’m just not that needy of a person, and I hate to worry or inconvenience others unnecessarily. There are also people I’d hear out if they called in the middle of the night, but if it wasn’t something that COULD NOT wait, I’d be pretty annoyed. ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/15 "2011-01-12T19:18:40Z")
If it’s not an emergency? Just calling someone up just to chat in the middle of the night? None, why would I ever do that? It seems really rude and inconsiderate. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/16 "2011-01-12T19:46:03Z")
20-30 who would be more than willing, but only about 8 whose numbers I would have on hand in the circustance. But that’s mainly because they all know me well enought o know that I wouldn’t be calling if I didn’t _ **really** _ need to talk. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/17 "2011-01-12T19:54:27Z")
Could? I don’t know. Would? None. There’s no such thing as \*\*need \*\*to talk. I may \*\*need \*\*someone to pick me up if I’m stranded outside somewhere, but I’d wait until after 7:00a to call anyone for _bail_, let alone for comfort. ---
**Author:** ![Incref](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@Incref](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incref)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/18 "2011-01-13T13:43:03Z")
Perhaps I should have specified in times one ‘needs’ to talk. Aforementioned loneliness being a great example. I must say I’m surprised at rude coming up here, I’d be pretty honored if someone felt they could call me up without notice. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/19 "2011-01-13T13:46:14Z")
Sorry, if someone calls me in the middle of the night because they’re _lonely_, I’m pissed, not honored. You’re not 6 months old. Comfort yourself until a reasonable hour. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214/20 "2011-01-13T13:46:57Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Sorry, if someone calls me in the middle of the night because they’re _lonely_, I’m pissed, not honored. You’re not 6 months old. Comfort yourself until a reasonable hour. This. I think my friends would treat me this way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-could-you-call-at-any-hour/567214.md?page=2)