Had that happen in an elevator. Elevator call boxes have a phone line for emergencies.
RING!
(pushes button)
“Hello?”
“Hello, who is this?”
“This is an elevator.”
“No, seriously, who is this?”
“No, seriously, this is an elevator.”
(Everyone in the elevator starts laughing)
“OMG… this really is an elevator!”
“Well, yeah, that’s what I told you.”
“How are you talking to me?”
“The call box started ringing so I pushed the button.”
“Um, OK, can you hang up now?”
“Well, there’s no real phone, just a button and a speaker, so I think you have to hang up.”
(CLICK)
In a public school that had is own number, a harmless prank people used to pull was to dial the payphone’s own number then immediately hang up and dash off. It would then ring and confuse the person who was nearest.
This happened to me one time like 15 years ago. I was sitting on a bench and a pay phone next to me started ringing. I picked it up and the local police department was on the other end.
They said they’d gotten a 911 call from this number. I said this was a pay phone and they were like, “Oh. Are there like, any kids or teenagers around?”
I looked around. There was a big group of teenagers maybe 30ft from where I was sitting. “Yep, there’s a few nearby.”
They said, “It was probably them. But we’re gonna send someone by just to make sure everything’s okay.”
A few minutes later a cop came by and asked if I was the person they spoke to on the phone. “Yep.” He looked around and verified there was no emergency and then left.
I answered a ringing payphone, just like in the movies.
Had that happen in an elevator. Elevator call boxes have a phone line for emergencies.
RING!
(pushes button)
“Hello?”
“Hello, who is this?”
“This is an elevator.”
“No, seriously, who is this?”
“No, seriously, this is an elevator.”
(Everyone in the elevator starts laughing)
“OMG… this really is an elevator!”
“Well, yeah, that’s what I told you.”
“How are you talking to me?”
“The call box started ringing so I pushed the button.”
“Um, OK, can you hang up now?”
“Well, there’s no real phone, just a button and a speaker, so I think you have to hang up.”
(CLICK)
In a public school that had is own number, a harmless prank people used to pull was to dial the payphone’s own number then immediately hang up and dash off. It would then ring and confuse the person who was nearest.
You just unlocked a memory here.
This happened to me one time like 15 years ago. I was sitting on a bench and a pay phone next to me started ringing. I picked it up and the local police department was on the other end.
They said they’d gotten a 911 call from this number. I said this was a pay phone and they were like, “Oh. Are there like, any kids or teenagers around?”
I looked around. There was a big group of teenagers maybe 30ft from where I was sitting. “Yep, there’s a few nearby.”
They said, “It was probably them. But we’re gonna send someone by just to make sure everything’s okay.”
A few minutes later a cop came by and asked if I was the person they spoke to on the phone. “Yep.” He looked around and verified there was no emergency and then left.
Is that how they found you, Nemo?
What did it say? Don’t leave us hanging, goddamnit!
I was in a train station, a woman was looking for her skateboarder son who was supposed to be waiting for the next train. He wasn’t there.