For two days now, I’ve been receiving calls from this place looking for someone we shall call A. I think it’s a photo centre or something, I don’t know, but the phone conversations go something like this:
Them: (in Mandarin) Hello, A?
Me: (in Mandarin) Pardon?
Them: A, please?
Me: Sorry, I think you have the wrong number.
Them: Oh. Sorry.
Two minutes later…
Them: Hello, is this A?
Me: No, you called me just now. This is the wrong number.
Them: Oh sorry.
Later that afternoon…
Them: Hello, A?
Me: No, this is the wrong number.
Them: Oh, what’s A’s number?
Me: (thinking, ‘what the?’) I don’t have A’s number. I don’t know her.
Them: Oh, oka. Thank you.
This morning…
Them: Hello, is this A?
Me: (thinking, ‘I can’t believe this’) No, you have called this number before. It’s the wrong number.
Them: Oh, sorry.
Aargh! But apparently I’m not the only one. My colleague got a phone call this afternoon that went like this:
Lady: Hello, is this Ambank?
Colleague: No, you’ve got the wrong number.
Lady: Oh okay, can I speak to so-and-so from Ambank please?
Colleague: (losing his patience) This is not Ambank. You have the wrong number.
Lady: Oh okay.
