[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you have any female friends who
> could take the call? When the caller asks for Michelle put 'her' on
> the line to see what it is they want. Have 'Michelle' stay on the
> phone to get the details. Or, just tell the caller "Michelle is not
> here right now, let me take a message for her." Maybe you can squeek
> some information out of them. Good luck with it. PAT]
Eons ago, when I worked for a radio station, we kept getting calls for "Alice" on the unlisted engineering line. One of our engineers finally told the caller "she just left with Sam." The caller screamed "is that m----- f----- back in town?" and slammed down the handset.
We heard from Alice again.
Neal McLain
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neal, I think you meant to type 'We _NEVER_ heard from Alice again.' But your (I suppose, ad-libbed) approach worked quite well. I thought about that after reading an earlier complaint about this 'Academy' company or whatever it is. When the caller asks for 'Michelle' the person answering should say in an apologetic but very straight tone of voice, "Well, Michelle isn't here right now; she is out with (some name)(some obscenity). I do not know when she will be back, but I do know this much. If you intend to allow her to run the streets like a dog in heat, you need to watch who she goes with. When you get her back to your place I recommend strong discipline." Say all that with a straight face, and see how far you can get the conversation to go. PAT]