Nah, probably not. But I am entertaining slightly paranoid fantasies about the repercussions.
I was eating lunch in a semi-crowded food court at school and my phone rings. This is not uncommon; in fact I’d been expecting a call from my project partner Shu, since we were meeting later. A cursory glance at the phone has the same area code and first two digits as hers, so I answer expecting to talk to her.
Your humble narrator: Hello?
Female Voice: Hello?
(great start, this)
BS: Shu?
FV: What?
BS: (louder) Shu!
FV: Shoot?
BS: (getting suspicious) Who is this?
FV: Who’s this?
Now at this point, the proper thing to do would be to say “If you don’t know who you’re calling for, don’t call” and hang up. But this person did sound like Shu, and I was still under the impression that it was her.
BS: This is Brahe! (no, I used my actual name 
)
FV: (very friendly) Hi Brahe!
BS: Uh. Okay. And you are…?
FV: (still perky) I’m [name forgotten, as I was busy manuevering a pesky bit of pineapple from my teeth with my tongue].
Awkward pause. And at that moment I realize that she had just told me her name and I didn’t hear it, so I’m trying to replay the last few seconds of my senses in my head, but all I get is “I’m slurp mmm tangy pineapple chew gulp,” which may be a name conducive to a good future in the erotic arts but is probably not (knowing my luck) the name of this mystery caller. Actually admitting that her name had run 'twixt my ears like the Keystone Kops on speed is of course out of the question. In the meantime, this silence is stretching out between us. I must take action!
BS: So… (Oh yeah. Rico Suave, right here.)
FV: Oh. Yes. Is this xxx-xxx6?
BS: Yes.
FV: This is xxx-xxx5.
BS: Oh?
FV: Surely you saw it on your call ID.
Quick check. Damn, it is. How did I miss that? Hurry, explain yourself! I need something to say - aha! The truth will do!
BS: I was expecting a different call.
FV: Okay. Anyway, I accidentally told some people the wrong number, so you may get a couple calls for me.
BS: Right. (Already I was remembering the forklift escapade from last year.) If anyone asks for you, I’ll tell them your number.
FV: Okay then.
BS: Mm-hmm.
[click]
(Rather, “[boop],” but “[click]” has greater finality to it that we’ve attached to ending phone calls for decades, and I’m not about to get sidetracked now. Except for this sidetrack. But I digress.)
In this 44-second mockery of a conversation I’ve given away my first name and phone number to a person who, for all I know, could be busy wrapping seagull carcasses in duct tape and mailing them to random addresses across the world. But on the other hand, that’s pretty much public information. A third, hormone-filled yet slightly naive appendage tells me that I do have her phone number, she has a nice voice, and I even have a reason to call (being that I didn’t get her name to redirect calls for).
The second makes some sense, the first is just silly, and the third - well, the third doesn’t really have a lot to say (but it does tend to repeat itself loudly), though it tries hard so the central processor takes pity on it and entertains its suggestions for a while.
Looks like common sense will win out once again. Curse you, sense!
