Phone Box

[Gianluca Drago]

Just for fun, a few months ago, I wondered what might happen if I dialled the number!

Would anyone answer?
Would they notice the guy with the camera?
Would they connect the two things together?
Would they sock me in the face?!?!

"That phone's ringing!"

"Should I answer it?"

"Yeah - do it!"

An answer

"Is there anybody in there?"

Brilliant!

 

[Gary Ayala]

Just for fun, a few months ago, I wondered what might happen if I dialled the number!

Would anyone answer?
Would they notice the guy with the camera?
Would they connect the two things together?
Would they sock me in the face?!?!

"That phone's ringing!"

"Should I answer it?"

"Yeah - do it!"

An answer

"Is there anybody in there?"

And it keeps getting better!

 

[Chris Bennett]

That was fun, but a bit less productive than I had hoped. Turns out people are too used to hearing phones ringing in public. Most people just walk on because it's not theirs ringing. A few took the bait though!

 

[Gary Ayala]

I guess that's not much of a surprise. But good to experiment and find out. What conversations, if any, did you have Mr. Chris?

 

[Chris Bennett]

Surprisingly few over the whole 5 years, actually Gary.
One or two people have asked if I would tell them what I was doing. They were usually men who were waiting for their wives who had gone into the department store beside the kiosk. Us males know that waiting outside is only marginally better than going in, don't we?! So obviously their gaze wanders around looking for something interesting to watch and all they find is me. Around about the time their wives get halfway round the food hall, it dawns on them that I am not behaving as humans are expected to, so questions enter their heads. If the line at the food hall checkout is long, they start to wonder what it actually is that I am doing. It's the ones whose wives meet someone they know and stop for a chat in the coats and jackets department who come over and ask. With some, I can see they are itching to ask, but turn their heads when I look over! If their wife then takes a second look at those sandals in the shoe department, I might wander over and say something like, "Everything they say about me is true, you know". Then, they chuckle and try to pretend they don't know what I am talking about. But I put them out of their misery and spill the beans anyway!

Oh, not a conversation, but one elderly couple, I am sure were convinced I was casing the bank across the street. They must have had their savings in another one though, because the police never turned up!

 

[Gary Ayala]

Thank You, Mr. Chris, for supplying the missing pieces surrounding the Phone Box. But, (the big but), I was wondering about the conversation(s) that transpired with someone who actually answered the phone.

("Us males know that waiting outside is only marginally better than going in, don't we?!" ... Amen.)

 

[Chris Bennett]

No, sadly, I never spoke with one of those folks @Gary Ayala