Punchline to a phone prank?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I got a phone call last night around 1:30 in the morning. Not as much of an annoyance as it might have been because I was still up (on the computer) and next to the phone so it didn’t get me out of bed.

The caller sounded like a kid. He asked me “Are you the pope?” I dealt with him like I deal with telemarketers - end the call as quickly as possible. I said “No, I’m not. Good bye.” and hung up the phone.

But now I’m curious. I assume this was a prank call like “Is your refrigerator running?” or “Is my friend Mike Hunt there?” and if I had stayed on the line after telling him I wasn’t the pope I would have heard the punchline. But I’ve never heard this one before. What’s the follow-up to “Are you the pope?”

And, in case you’re wondering, my name isn’t Benedict or Ratzinger or anything papal like.

2

Are you the Pope who? Could sound like ‘Are you the poopoo.’

That would be really pathetic, but do any kids actually do crank calls these days? I mean, it’s not like private numbers are usually listed or pubs expect calls for anyone other than known regulars.

How did they get your number?

When I was about 12 we worked out area codes for the US, worked out where Ghostbusters was set, and subtracted enough numbers from the 555- number to make it be a real number. And called it. Several times. The woman on the other end was just baffled when we kept asking who she was going to call, and my friend’s Mum was justifiably annoyed at the phone bill.