Somewhere in the East Bay, there is a lady named Maya who isn't very good at remembering the number for her new cell phone. She keeps giving out our home phone number, instead.
I've had this happen before: you get a spate of apparently wrong numbers, but from so many people for the same person that it's not just a coincidence. I've found that being helpful doesn't make it go away. What makes it stop is getting the charming wrong-numberer in a heck of a lot of trouble.
When Samesh or something like that was getting calls at my place in San Jose, not just any calls but long distance calls from India, I told his mother he was out with his fiancee, and that ended the odd-hours calls from around the world just about instantly. It's amazing what you have to do to get people to make a simple correction for family and friends you'd think they wanted to hear from.
So today, when Maya's boyfriend called for the third time (I do have to wonder why her boyfriend doesn't have the right number yet, but he claimed this morning that he called this very number last night and talked to her, so either he's got her twice in his speed dial or he's delusional), I told him she was out with her boyfriend.
He hung up and called right back and insisted on talking to Maya, but I was quite firm. Maya was out with her boyfriend. You know, that tall, buff black guy with the gold nose ring? I could just feel the anger through the phone. I predict an abrupt end to the wrong numbers for Maya.
Now that's evil :)!
My sister-in-law in New York keeps getting calls from some Indian's guy mother also - same mother? She wants her to go out into the street (she must think New York is very small) and look for him and tell him to call. Okaaaaay. I can't believe Sis-in-law continues to be polite with these calls.