# ... the pay phone rings.  What do you do?



## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Jul 18, 2005)

So - while I was walking to lunch this fine afternoon, I walked past a pay phone.  I had always assumed that it didn't work because it no long had any buttons.  Apparently, I was wrong.

As I stepped in front of the pay phone, it began to ring.  A thousand stories unfold in in head at that very second - all based on one simple question: Do I answer it?

Well - needless to say - I am a totally boring person that does not want to be recruited by the CIA and so I didn't take the opportunity and answer the phone, but - _what would you have done?_ 

And - better yet - if you were making a movie or writing a story: what would have happened after you picked it up?


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## der_kluge (Jul 18, 2005)

I would have answered it.

But, in writing, I'm very pragmatic, thus it would have just been a wrong number.

It's why I don't write fiction.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Jul 18, 2005)

We had a pay phone in my High School. I remember we assumed they were just there for show, but one day it rang.

When one of us picked up the phone, we answered with "Hello, this is Pizza Hut, how can we ruin your pizza today?"

Needless to say, they hung up. Wasn't much of a CIA plot...


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## Henry (Jul 18, 2005)

After watching this film, I'll NEVER answer a pay phone that rings IN MY LIFE.


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## JimAde (Jul 18, 2005)

This happened to me once, too (in a parking lot of an ice cream place in Lake Geneva, WI).  At the time, my friend was running an excellent campaign that took place in Lake Geneva during the 1920's.  In the game we ran a sham church that hid a speakeasy.  The church was called the First United Church of the Kingdom of Evangelical Doohanism.  My character always answered the phone in the church office and a very annoying, grating voice.

SO when the phone rang I picked it up and said "First United Church of Doohanism.  Can I help you?"  I then had a 5 minute conversation with a very confused teenage girl looking for "Tiffany".  I stayed in character the whole time.

I'm convinced that to this day there is somebody living in Lake Geneva who thinks that church is real.


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## Uzumaki (Jul 18, 2005)

I have answered a ringing pay phone, at the SD Comic-Con actually. But it was just some guy stuck in traffic out on Harbor Drive, whose wife was in the Convention Center and had called him from that number. BOOOORING


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## Turanil (Jul 18, 2005)

I think that someone had the phone number of that pay phone, and was waiting in the vicinity for some dude to walk past that pay phone. Each time, they call the pay phone (all the while watching the place) and then try to hoax the person, or insult her, or whatever they think is fun.

Of course, if this is a movie, here would be the story:
-- Pay phone rings seemingly at random.
-- Mrs. Universe answers.
-- The call is by some child who is dying, has an accident, or what not, and is calling at random for help.
-- Of course Mrs. Universe is an altruistic and responsible person, so she rushes to the child's help.
-- The child is in fact a vampire.
-- Mrs. Universe never comes back.
-- Mr. Universe is extremely upset. He diecides to use his super-powers (with such a name, I assume he MUST have superpowers).
-- In doing so he forgets that he has been searched throughout the galaxy by the Graloziaxes, a race of evil aliens at PL8. And so a probe that had remained dormant for centuries in Earth's orbit eventually detects Mr. Universe, and sends a signal to the Graloziaxes.
-- The _real_ story begins.


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## reveal (Jul 18, 2005)

Need to find a pay phone in your area? This is pretty neat.

http://www.payphone-project.com/numbers/usamap.html


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## sniffles (Jul 18, 2005)

I would not answer it. It's not for me. And if it is for me, I don't want to know! Heck, I don't even answer my phone at home 90% of the time.  

If it was a movie or tv show, then on the other end of the line would be a mysterious child's voice saying, "Are you my mummy?". And then I'd look down and see that the phone wasn't even connected to any wiring... (always steal from the best)


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## Angel Tarragon (Jul 18, 2005)

Blow it to pieces with an automatic rifle!


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## DM_Jeff (Jul 18, 2005)

>>on the other end of the line would be a mysterious child's voice saying, "Are you my mummy?". And then I'd look down and see that the phone wasn't even connected to any wiring... 

Excellent Dr. Who flashback, great episode! 

-DM Jeff


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## Brain (Jul 18, 2005)

I don't answer payphones.


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## Torm (Jul 18, 2005)

Are you kidding? Can't you hear THAT RING? There's something WRONG with that ring!

What KIND of a person lets a phone ring 10 TIMES?!

I heard a phone ring like that once, back when I was in 'nam. I couldn't answer it then, but .... maybe I can answer it now!

 

Seriously, though, I've answered payphones a couple of times. Mostly uneventful, although I do remember once when I ended up using the phone book (miraculously still attached) for the caller to help them get the right number - THEY were calling from a payphone in another state.


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## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Jul 18, 2005)

Torm said:
			
		

> Are you kidding? Can't you hear THAT RING? There's something WRONG with that ring!
> 
> What KIND of a person lets a phone ring 10 TIMES?!
> 
> ...



 *waves*  Hi, Torm!  I was just thinking earlier today that I hadn't seen you in a while... or that you had been around and I wasn't paying attentiong.


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## The_Universe (Jul 18, 2005)

I...uh....*panics*....eat the phone! 

Ha! Now what!?


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## Angel Tarragon (Jul 18, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> *waves*  Hi, Torm!  I was just thinking earlier today that I hadn't seen you in a while... or that you had been around and I wasn't paying attentiong.



He's only been gone for 7 days. And if I recall correctly he did announce that he was going on vaction.


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## Psionicist (Jul 18, 2005)

The phone rings, what do you do?
EXAMINE PHONE
It's a regular payphone.
USE PAYPHONE
I don't understand.
USE PHONE
You were eaten by a grue.
QUIT


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## Torm (Jul 18, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> *waves*  Hi, Torm!  I was just thinking earlier today that I hadn't seen you in a while... or that you had been around and I wasn't paying attentiong.



I've been doing a big music video archival project, and that has me away from the computer a good bit. This computer, anyway. I've gone back to lurking a bit more than I was there for a while, but I'm still here. Glad to know someone noticed, though.


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## Torm (Jul 18, 2005)

Frukathka said:
			
		

> He's only been gone for 7 days. And if I recall correctly he did announce that he was going on vaction.



Um, that wasn't me.

Don't call it a comeback - I've been here for years.


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## Angel Tarragon (Jul 18, 2005)

Torm said:
			
		

> Um, that wasn't me.
> 
> Don't call it a comeback - I've been here for years.



Oh, well in that case.


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## GlassJaw (Jul 18, 2005)

Psionicist said:
			
		

> The phone rings, what do you do?
> EXAMINE PHONE
> It's a regular payphone.
> USE PAYPHONE
> ...




If we had a post of the day award, this would get my vote!


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## reveal (Jul 18, 2005)

GlassJaw said:
			
		

> If we had a post of the day award, this would get my vote!




I second that nomination!


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## Patryn of Elvenshae (Jul 18, 2005)

I probably wouldn't answer it.

But then, my mind working the way it does, I'd end up building a story whereby it was someone actually calling for help - I haven't decided what with, yet - but the pay phone was a single digit off of, say, their parents' number.

Then, because I didn't answer the phone, the movie would follow the entire chain of causality.  The person would be killed (I having since decided that they were being held hostage) in a singularly bloody fashion, and it would make the national news.  

The hostage's brother / sister would grow up harboring a grudge against the radical nationalist group that offed his sister, and would become a hard-bitten cop and / or special forces agent, always hoping, one day, to run into the men responsible.

A member of the radical nationalist group, having been present at the murder, would turn away from his former allies, sickened by the lengths to which they would go to achieve their political agenda.  He'd turn state's evidence, or perhaps flee the country.  At any event, he'd end up an informer, hunted by his former allies, and would, in time, work as a consultant to the police department in which the hostage's brother works.

They'd become friends, and in a climactic moment, the brother would realize that his friend is partially responsible for his sibling's death.  After a vicious internal struggle, the cop would in turn murder his friend.

The final scene would be the person who initially passed up the phone call dying at a grand old age in a hospital bed, surrounded by loving family members and flowers.


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## DungeonmasterCal (Jul 18, 2005)

Last time I walked by a payphone as it rang it stopped just as I picked it up.  Then it vomited out all the change in the box.  Nearly 15 dollars in change!  So yeah...I'd have answered it.


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## sniffles (Jul 18, 2005)

DungeonmasterCal said:
			
		

> Last time I walked by a payphone as it rang it stopped just as I picked it up. Then it vomited out all the change in the box. Nearly 15 dollars in change! So yeah...I'd have answered it.




Eeeewwww!!  A pay phone threw up on you?!!


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## Zappo (Jul 18, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> Well - needless to say - I am a totally boring person that does not want to be recruited by the CIA and so I didn't take the opportunity and answer the phone, but - _what would you have done?_



Let it ring. It's not for me. I've got a cellphone and no patience for drama.







> And - better yet - if you were making a movie or writing a story: what would have happened after you picked it up?



Well, it depends. Can you fit a nuke in a payphone?


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## Renton (Jul 19, 2005)

<ringly ringly>

Answer phone....

"yes of course, one moment please."

Flag nearest random passer-by....

"It's for you.  A Mr. Wintermute calling"

Be on my merry way....


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## DungeonmasterCal (Jul 19, 2005)

sniffles said:
			
		

> Eeeewwww!!  A pay phone threw up on you?!!




Dig it...if anyone could vomit up 15 bux in change, it'd be worth washing it off and running away with it!


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## reveal (Jul 19, 2005)

DungeonmasterCal said:
			
		

> Dig it...if anyone could vomit up 15 bux in change, it'd be worth washing it off and running away with it!




That reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Barney grabbed a cup of quarters instead of a cup of beer and drank it. He started burping and quarters went everywhere. He kept doing it and someone said "Hey this guy's paying off!" and everyone was at his feet picking up quarters.


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## Dakkareth (Jul 19, 2005)

> "It's for you. A Mr. Wintermute calling"




*twitches*


Anyway, I wouldn't answer. I hate making calls, I don't even answer the phone when it rings at home and noone else is there. Did I tell you I hate it?


But in fiction ... well, the answerer would be a student of mathematics at some reputable university and out of curiosity he or she would write down the string of numbers uttered by the mechanical voice on the other end. After a long string of adventures, involving lots of three-letter-agencies, conspiracies, clue-seeking and mathematical puzzles he or she'd end up preventing a large-scale disaster, failing at university and losing his stipendium.


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## reveal (Jul 19, 2005)

*ring*

"Hello? 

*listens* "You don't say!"

*listens* "You don't say!"

*listens* "You don't say!"

*listens* "Goodbye."

Other guy: "Hey, who was that?"

Guy on phone: "He didn't say."

*rimshot*


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 19, 2005)

Torm said:
			
		

> I've been doing a big music video archival project, and that has me away from the computer a good bit. This computer, anyway. I've gone back to lurking a bit more than I was there for a while, but I'm still here. Glad to know someone noticed, though.




You expect us to make spot checks like that around here?   

The DC is too high to try to see a deity who's been hiding in the bushes, playing Peeping To*r*m.


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 19, 2005)

Torm said:
			
		

> Um, that wasn't me.
> 
> Don't call it a comeback - I've been here for years.




The only "vacation" he was on was when he was in the hospital a while back with pneumonia.


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## tonym (Jul 19, 2005)

If it wasn't a filthy payphone, I would likely answer it, unless I was carrying something, or it was raining, or I had been injured and was on my way to a hospital, or I was being chased by a dog or several dogs.



			
				Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> And - better yet - if you were making a movie or writing a story: what would have happened after you picked it up?




As I place the receiver to my ear, poison gas puffs from the holes in the mouthpiece.  My head is instantly engulfed in a dense purple cloud.  Luckily I was exhaling at the time.  When I get home, I call the phone company and report the defective payphone.

Tony M


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## reveal (Jul 19, 2005)

tonym said:
			
		

> As I place the receiver to my ear, poison gas puffs from the holes in the mouthpiece.  My head is instantly engulfed in a dense purple cloud.  Luckily I was exhaling at the time.  When I get home, I call the phone company and report the defective payphone.
> 
> Tony M




I can imagine that phone call:

Phone company service rep: "Sir, how may I help you?"

Tony M: "Purple haze... All through my brain."

Phone company service rep: "Um, sir, are you all right?"

Tony M: "Lately things just don't seem the same."

Phone company service rep: "I'm hanging up now, sir."

Tony M: "Actin' funny, but I don't know why."

Phone company service rep: "Goodbye, sir!"

Tony M: "Excuse me while I kiss the sky!" *click*


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## IronWolf (Jul 19, 2005)

I would have walked on by.  I hate phones.....


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## I'm A Banana (Jul 19, 2005)

How's this:

The phone rings. Intrigued Bypasser picks it up. Guy on the other side says "Congratulations. You have shown us that you are a brave, adventurous person. Maybe you can be the one to help us. Look in the phonebook, under the name "Wayne Smith." You'll find an address. Be there at this time tomorrow. Having picked up this phone and heard this message, you are in grave danger. People are watching you. People who know our secret. People who want to stop us. If you don't show up, hundreds of people will die. If you do show up, you may die. The choice is yours. You have been given this message becuase you are a bold and adventurous person. You might just have what it takes to save them. Please, don't let fear get the better of you. Help us. Help them.....hang up now, they're coming" *click*

What happens after that? ADVENTURE, of course!   

I totally would've picked it up. I would've regretted not doing it.


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## wingsandsword (Jul 19, 2005)

JimAde said:
			
		

> SO when the phone rang I picked it up and said "First United Church of Doohanism.  Can I help you?"  I then had a 5 minute conversation with a very confused teenage girl looking for "Tiffany".  I stayed in character the whole time.



Once when I was walking around town, I ran across a pair of missionaries.  We ended up standing together at a walk light, and I politely smiled at them.  I saw their name badges that clearly ID'ed them as being from a certain church known for sending very determined missionaries.  They turned to me and with big smiles, asked what church I go to.

Now, I'm not wanting to get into a religious debate with them (and the fact that I'm pagan might not set well with them), so I decide to switch into character for a D&D cleric I was playing at the time:

"I worship at the mosque of Our Lady of the Flames, the temple of Alia Min Kor, the transcendent flame mage who ascended to divinity unto the Elemental Plane of Fire in the year 1102.  I myself am an initiate of the Order of the Silver Flame, but we have plans to open new mosques throughout the area soon. . ." as I continue to preach on in-character as my cleric.  The missionaries get a confused and slightly scared look on their faces, quickly excused themselves, and left as quickly as they could.

Now, about the phone ringing: I had this happen once a few months ago.  Amusingly, it was in the building where we played out our long-running vampire larp, and I was dressed in-character, and people were gathering for the game, so I decided to respond in character (a Tremere with technocratic contacts, who contact him sometimes by randomly calling him at payphones). (nobody else would go and pick it up, one person actually cited the movie "Phone Booth")
Me: "Yes, I'm here."
Phone: "Uh, who is this?"
Me: "Identify yourself, you called me."
Phone: "What the heck is going on?"
Me: "Dammit, this line is compromised, terminate communications.  I will be in touch." *hangs up*

Or, there was the similar calls I got on my cell phone once, back in 2000 (when I didn't have a phone with caller ID).  I was walking around town when I get a call on my cell:
Person (little kids voice): "Dad, I'm ready to be picked up now!"
(at the time I'm 22 and single, and more likely to call my dad to pick me up)
Me: "Uh, sorry, I think you have a wrong number there."
Kid: "Dad, you're scaring me, please come pick me up from practice."
Me: "I'm sorry kid, but I can't help you, you have the wrong number.  Check what you dialed and try again." *hang up*

A few seconds later:
*phone rings*
Kid: "Dad, pick me up from soccer practice!"
Me: "Sorry, you've still got a wrong number, I'm sorry but I'm not your dad, and I can't help you.  I don't have a car, I don't know you, and I suggest you try and get ahold of another relative or friend of the family.
Kid: "Dad, you're scaring me!" *breaks into tears and crying*
Me: "Sorry, I don't mean to make you cry, but I'm not your dad.  I hope you can find somebody to help you, but I can't do anything for you" *hang up*

A minute or so later:
*phone rings*
Kid (crying): "Dad, please come get me, I'm scared.  Don't say you won't get me.  Please come pick me up!"
Me: "I'm real sorry, but I'm just not your dad, I can't help you, I don't have a car, I don't know where you are, you said you're at soccer practice, talk to your coach and see if they have your dad's number, or your mom's, or somebody else who can pick you up.  If nobody else can help you, dial 911 and the police can help you, but I don't have anything I can do for you."
Kid (almost hysterical): "Pleeaaassee dad!  You're scaring me!  Pick me up!"
Me: "Talk to your coach, dial 911, I can't do anything to help you."
*hangs up, turns off phone*

I don't think it was a prank call, because it was at like 5:00 in the afternoon (when an afterschool practice would be likely to be letting out), and it really did sound like a grade-school age young boy, but I couldn't do anything to help him, I didn't know him, and he just wouldn't believe that I wasn't his father.  Maybe I sounded like him and his dad wrote his phone number down wrong, transposed some numbers so it was my cell number, I don't know, I felt bad about hanging up and turning off the phone, but there was nothing I could do (and that prepaid cell time was expensive, each call was running me a dollar or so, I got it mostly for emergencies myself!)


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## Arbiter of Wyrms (Jul 19, 2005)

Very few pay phones still ring, at least around here, but occasionally one will ring near me.  Invariably, folks around me adopt expressions of amusement/worry/scandal/confusion.  I usually answer.  As yet, it has never been for me, so far as I can remember.  Occasionally, it is for someone within earshot, in which case I hollar for them.  If the intended recipient of the call is not within earshot, I will sometimes offer to take a message, but always explain that the message will most likely never be delivered.

The wierdest occurrance, by far, of a ringing pay phone in my experience was at a rest stop on Interstate Highway 5.  The caller was a woman who propositioned me to join she and her boyfriend for sex.  Whether this was legitimate or not, I will never know, as I chose to decline.  I guess I'm just a boring old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to some things.


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## Torm (Jul 19, 2005)

Arbiter of Wyrms said:
			
		

> Whether this was legitimate or not, I will never know, as I chose to decline.  I guess I'm just a boring old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to some things.



I'd say that's for the best - your story sounds like it could've been the beginning of an urban legend that would've ended badly.


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## warlord (Jul 19, 2005)

*To anwser or not to awnser that is the question.*

AWNSER IT! This is your only chance to get the girl of your dreams. The call is really some really hot girl begging for help. As you follow the directions she gives you you fight assorted evil things and display John Woo style action moves you never knew you had.


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## Angel Tarragon (Jul 19, 2005)

reveal said:
			
		

> *ring*
> 
> "Hello?
> 
> ...



Okay, I know I've heard that on a TV show or in a movie, I just can't remember where.


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## RithTheAwakener (Jul 19, 2005)

Pick up the phone.... say
 (/keanu) MORPHEUS?! WHOA!


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## Turanil (Jul 19, 2005)

warlord said:
			
		

> AWNSER IT! This is your only chance to get the girl of your dreams. The call is really some really hot girl begging for help. As you follow the directions she gives you you fight assorted evil things and display John Woo style action moves you never knew you had.



The girl is really hot for sure!! It's a girl of dream yeah!!! But... but... It's too late. I have waited for too long, and I am too old now. What about a good drink watching the TV instead??  

By the way, "girl of your dreams"?, I believe that the original poster does not seek "a girl of her dreams" (Lady Acoma maybe, but probably not Queen Doppelpopolis).


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 19, 2005)

Arbiter of Wyrms said:
			
		

> The wierdest occurrance, by far, of a ringing pay phone in my experience was at a rest stop on Interstate Highway 5. The caller was a woman who propositioned me to join she and her boyfriend for sex. Whether this was legitimate or not, I will never know, as I chose to decline. I guess I'm just a boring old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to some things.







			
				Torm said:
			
		

> I'd say that's for the best - your story sounds like it could've been the beginning of an urban legend that would've ended badly.




Yeah. 'Cause it was probably Torm's wife doing the calling....   And the urban legend woulda been "did I just hang out and do 'ahem' with a deity and his mate?"


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## JimAde (Jul 19, 2005)

Frukathka said:
			
		

> Okay, I know I've heard that on a TV show or in a movie, I just can't remember where.



 It's an old, old bit.  I think I saw it on a three stooges short (or maybe it was the Marx brothers, it was a long time ago).  Anyway, it's been used many times since by (at least) Benny Hill and Mel Brooks.


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## Torm (Jul 19, 2005)

Darth K'Trava said:
			
		

> Yeah. 'Cause it was probably Torm's wife doing the calling....   And the urban legend woulda been "did I just hang out and do 'ahem' with a deity and his mate?"



Arbiter's a woman?  

I was thinking more like the kind where you wake up in a tub full of bloody ice with "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror. Something like that.

But actually, it would be .... Jenny Sizzler! And her sister, JENNY SIZZLER!


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## Uzumaki (Jul 19, 2005)

Yeeg, that actually gave me a chill, Torm.


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## I'm A Banana (Jul 19, 2005)

> I was thinking more like the kind where you wake up in a tub full of bloody ice with "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror. Something like that.




Yeah, when I thought that would stop happening after a while, I knew I was just asking for it. I mean, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me nine and a half times, shame on me.


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 20, 2005)

Torm said:
			
		

> Arbiter's a woman?




I guess you have to ask Arbiter that one...   



> I was thinking more like the kind where you wake up in a tub full of bloody ice with "Welcome to the wonderful world of AIDS" written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror. Something like that.




Sounds like your teen years....   



> But actually, it would be .... Jenny Sizzler! And her sister, JENNY SIZZLER!




Who? and Who?


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## RithTheAwakener (Jul 20, 2005)

Darth K'Trava said:
			
		

> Who? and Who?




that would be from Kids in the Hall, one of the greatest comedy shows ever. Although i thought it was Jerry Sizzler?


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 20, 2005)

RithTheAwakener said:
			
		

> that would be from Kids in the Hall, one of the greatest comedy shows ever. Although i thought it was Jerry Sizzler?




Never heard of it.

And don't freak him out more than he already is.... (wondering if Arbiter is male or female is probably eating at him right now....   )


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## ssampier (Jul 20, 2005)

The Ring taught me never to answer phones after a scary movie

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

wait, that movie wasn't scary. That's it, I'm answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"This is Tim Smith from Provadaiszatomis Real Estate ready to tell you about the exciting world of Time-Share"

"I don't need a time share..."

"But wait! If you act now, we'll throw a FREE ski weekend for you and your family...."

" No"

"I am the great Devil of Timeshares and you will do what I say. You will buy a time-share and like it.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargggggggggggggggh"

((sounds of pain as my eyes are seared out and my face burns))

Lesson learned, don't pickup that phone, they could sell you a TIMESHARE.




noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


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## Goblyn (Jul 20, 2005)

Frukathka said:
			
		

> Okay, I know I've heard that on a TV show or in a movie, I just can't remember where.




It was a McDonald's commercial ... the insidiousness of it. For more insidiousness, see this thread --> http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=140554


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## reveal (Jul 20, 2005)

Goblyn said:
			
		

> It was a McDonald's commercial ... the insidiousness of it. For more insidiousness, see this thread --> http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=140554




It's also a very, very old joke. At least from the 1950's.


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## Kemrain (Jul 20, 2005)

What a great thread! Creepy and neat. Good responses, too. Thank you, Queen_Dopplepopolis.

And any thread that references The Kids in the Hall is awsome.

Let's see... I likes the math student idea...

He answers the phone, and to his suprise he hears his own panicked voice saying an algorithm back to him through the phone. It's a modified equation that he's been working on for years but could never perfect. It's the theoretical proof of time travel, and starts him down a wonderful chain of causality, because he gave the number to himself from an alternate future that never occured. Throw in time traveling monsters, spice heavily with the creepy, and you could have a winner.

- Kemrain the Enjoying the Thread.


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## Queen_Dopplepopolis (Jul 20, 2005)

Kemrain said:
			
		

> What a great thread! Creepy and neat. Good responses, too. Thank you, Queen_Dopplepopolis.




Ha ha!  I win!    Which is why I demand to keep the good responses coming!



			
				Kenrain said:
			
		

> Let's see... I likes the math student idea...




So far - I'd say your idea is the big winner.  VERY COOL plot!    (ahhh - so many good ideas for modern adventures!)


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## Kemrain (Jul 20, 2005)

Oh, why thank you. I thought I could do better, but after retyping 4 different ideas, that one stuck. I feel better about it now.  Yay! I beat the internet!

- Kenrain the Pleased.


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## Torm (Jul 20, 2005)

Darth K'Trava said:
			
		

> And don't freak him out more than he already is.... (wondering if Arbiter is male or female is probably eating at him right now....   )



Not really.

But I'll be darned - I googled it, and it IS _Jerry_ Sizzler! Hmph.


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## Kemrain (Jul 20, 2005)

Don't worry, Torm, if it was on the Kids in the Hall, I'm sure they'll crossdress for you.

- Kemrain the Amused.


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## Vargo (Jul 20, 2005)

I fear that if I answered a pay phone, I'd end up in Miracle Mile.

I saw that a LONG time ago (mid '80s), and I still get occasional nightmares.


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## Torm (Jul 20, 2005)

Kemrain said:
			
		

> Don't worry, Torm, if it was on the Kids in the Hall, I'm sure they'll crossdress for you.



In that skit, they already WERE crossdressed and referred to each other as sisters, which is probably why I misheard it. Repeatedly. In several episodes.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jul 21, 2005)

I used to work in Austin at The University of Texas.  We were up in the middle of the tower (floors 12-15).

Someone got the number of a pay phone right outside the building and used to call it.  When someone picked it up, he would start talking to them, and eventually make comments on what they were wearing, what they did (turn in a certain direction), etc.

He was eventually told my management to stop doing this.


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## Hypersmurf (Jul 21, 2005)

I remember hearing a payphone on Auckland's central street ringing once.

I spent ten minutes trying to spot the hidden camera.

-Hyp.


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## Wereserpent (Jul 21, 2005)

I would answer and say "I AM YOUR REMOTE CONTROL THAT  IS OUT TO KILL YOU BWHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH TOADS"


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## Arnwyn (Jul 21, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> what would you have done?



Run away - fast.

Nothing good ever comes from answering a payphone. EVER.


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## DungeonmasterCal (Jul 21, 2005)

arnwyn said:
			
		

> Run away - fast.
> 
> Nothing good ever comes from answering a payphone. EVER.




I disagree! 15 dollars richer for answering one...that's me!


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## ZeroGlobal2003 (Jul 21, 2005)

wingsandsword said:
			
		

> Or, there was the similar calls I got on my cell phone once, back in 2000 (when I didn't have a phone with caller ID).  I was walking around town when I get a call on my cell:
> Person (little kids voice): "Dad, I'm ready to be picked up now!"
> (at the time I'm 22 and single, and more likely to call my dad to pick me up)
> Me: "Uh, sorry, I think you have a wrong number there."
> ...




Thats the best lay out for a creepy Call of Cthulhu event I've ever read.

Zero


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## BlackSilver (Jul 23, 2005)

Answer it.  

Way I see it you have equal chances of the call making you happy and sad, so why not?


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## Arpad (Jul 23, 2005)

No way would I answer it!  I don't want to get shot by Keifer Sutherland.  Yeah, he's dreamy, but that's not how I want to meet him.


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## Ashwyn (Jul 23, 2005)

I'd answer and say "What are you wearing?".


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## Dark Jezter (Jul 23, 2005)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> I remember hearing a payphone on Auckland's central street ringing once.
> 
> I spent ten minutes trying to spot the hidden camera.
> 
> -Hyp.









"It's a trap!!!"


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## I'm A Banana (Jul 23, 2005)

Arpad said:
			
		

> No way would I answer it! I don't want to get shot by Keifer Sutherland. Yeah, he's dreamy, but that's not how I want to meet him.




This guy?






Shot through the heart....


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## Admiral Akbar (Jul 23, 2005)

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> "It's a trap!!!"




That's my line!


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## Remathilis (Jul 23, 2005)

DM_Jeff said:
			
		

> >>on the other end of the line would be a mysterious child's voice saying, "Are you my mummy?". And then I'd look down and see that the phone wasn't even connected to any wiring...
> 
> Excellent Dr. Who flashback, great episode!
> 
> -DM Jeff




A FANTASTIC episode even!


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## Altamont Ravenard (Jul 24, 2005)

It makes me sad that you can't call payphones in Canada...

AR


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## Napftor (Jul 24, 2005)

Queen_Dopplepopolis said:
			
		

> Well - needless to say - I am a totally boring person that does not want to be recruited by the CIA and so I didn't take the opportunity and answer the phone, but - _what would you have done?_
> 
> And - better yet - if you were making a movie or writing a story: what would have happened after you picked it up?




I probably would not have answered it.  Here's why.  There used to be a pay phone down the street from me I could see from the living room window.  One sunny day, my pastor and some church folk were having some kind of walkathon.  When I saw my pastor stop neat the phone, a visiting friend and I couldn't help but give him a call (since we had written down the # for just such an occasion).  When he picked up the phone I replied, "Pastor Uhler...this is GOD."  When he started to ask a question, I hung up.  For sure I'm going to Hades for that.    

As for how I would put a mysterious phone call in story, the voice would ask the unsuspecting passerby how old they were.  If the age was in the appropriate range, the booth would close and teleport the victim to another time/place.  Then let the hilarity ensue.


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## Napftor (Jul 24, 2005)

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> "It's a trap!!!"




I'm sure I quote this line at every module.


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## Lady_Acoma (Jul 24, 2005)

Turanil said:
			
		

> By the way, "girl of your dreams"?, I believe that the original poster does not seek "a girl of her dreams" (Lady Acoma maybe, but probably not Queen Doppelpopolis).



Maybe she is seeking the girl of my dreams for me?  She's pretty helpful like that you know...  And I am helpless so it all works out for the best.


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## Darth K'Trava (Jul 24, 2005)

> Originally Posted by Dark Jezter
> 
> 
> "It's a trap!!!"






			
				Napftor said:
			
		

> I'm sure I quote this line at every module.





Between that and "I have a bad feeling about this...."


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## Voadam (Jul 27, 2005)

Ok, so it happened to me this weekend. After going to the movies to catch Star Wars before it left every theatre in the state, I noticed this pay phone ringing as I head out of the theatre.

I figured it was probably for a drug dealer and I was in a rush to get home so I ignored it.  :\  My life could be a huge adventure but I ignore the blatant plot hooks. 

Whenever you ignore the plot hooks expect a random assault by ninjas as the DM figures out what he's going to do as he wings the night's adventure. Luckily I had no random encounters on the way home.


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