What did this guy just push on my phone?

Factual Questions
1

We often have people coming up to us asking to use the phone at the library. The rule used to be “buzz off, buster” but now we’re supposed to allow it if they’re calling about library related matters or if they’re calling about a ride. You have to seriously police this crap and it’s a major pain in the ass - a guy once almost threw a punch at me when I cut him off when he was trying to activate a credit card that I’m pretty sure was stolen and call it “library related”.

So I just dialed for a guy who asked somebody to come pick him up, and when he put the phone down he dialed # and 1 and left. What was that all about? (Does it clear the memory or something? Do you honestly think I give a shit about your scuzzy friend’s phone number?)

2

Almost certainly he just did it out of habit so that nobody can use the last-number redial to find out what number he called. The number #1 in itself has no significance that I know of, it’s just a random number to fill up the last-number memory.

3

Um, our phones are high tech and keep the numbers. :slight_smile:

4

Well, like I said, he probably did it out of habit, or in the mistaken belief that your phone isn’t that high-tech. On a standard public payphone, a certain type of person would usually dial a single digit after completing their call in order to “preserve their privacy” (or keep their dealer to themselves…)