Just Relaxed Blog

Tag: phone call

  • The Great Phone Number Mix-Up of 2023 (and Why I Still Answer to ‘Brenda’)

    The Great Phone Number Mix-Up of 2023 (and Why I Still Answer to ‘Brenda’)



    Brenda, is this a good time?” And you think, “Brenda? Who’s Brenda? Is this one of those AI scams?”

    The Wrong Number That Started It All

    Well, friends, that’s how my adventure into the wacky world of wrong numbers began. It was a Tuesday, or maybe a Wednesday (who can really keep track?), and the culprit was a particularly persistent telemarketer trying to sell me life insurance. Except, they weren’t trying to sell it to me. They were trying to sell it to Brenda.

    Now, I’m usually a pretty patient person, but after the fifth “No, I’m sorry, you’ve got the wrong number,” even I started to crack. I tried everything: explaining, politely declining, even resorting to a very convincing British accent (don’t ask). Nothing worked. They always came back, like telemarketing zombies, chanting “Brenda? Brenda?”

    The Case of the Misguided Pizza Delivery

    Things escalated quickly. Soon, it wasn’t just telemarketers. It was restaurant reservation confirmations, dentist appointment reminders, and even – I kid you not – a very confused pizza delivery guy holding a large pepperoni with extra anchovies (Brenda’s apparent order of choice).

  • The Great Phone Number Mix-Up of 2023 (and Why I Still Answer to ‘Brenda’)

    The Great Phone Number Mix-Up of 2023 (and Why I Still Answer to ‘Brenda’)



    We’ve all been there. You’re going about your day, innocently sipping your coffee, when suddenly your phone erupts with the shrill cry of a wrong number. Maybe it’s a confused grandma looking for “Timmy,” or a teenager desperately trying to reach “Chad.” Usually, a quick “You’ve got the wrong number” suffices, and you move on with your life. But friends, my story? Oh, it’s a saga.

    The Day My Phone Became a Portal to Brenda‘s World

    It all started innocently enough. A call from an unknown number. I answered with my usual, “Hello?” A chipper voice on the other end chirped, “Hi Brenda! It’s Cindy from [Insurance Company I Will Not Name]. Are you still interested in that life insurance quote?”

    Now, I’m about as far from a “Brenda” as you can get. My name is decidedly not Brenda. It’s not even close to Brenda. So, I politely informed Cindy that she had the wrong number. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” she chirped, and that, I thought, was that.

    The Calls That Launched a Thousand Wrong Numbers

    Reader, I was wrong. So, so wrong. Over the next few weeks, my phone became a hotline to Brenda’s life. I received calls from:

    • The pharmacy reminding “Brenda” to pick up her prescription.
    • A frantic woman claiming to be Brenda’s sister, demanding to know why Brenda hadn’t picked up her kids from soccer practice.
    • And yes, dear reader, even more calls from Cindy from [Insurance Company I Will Not Name], each time more insistent than the last that Brenda needed to secure her future.
    Humorous illustration of a person skydiving with a phone clutched in their hand