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We’ve been having trouble with our landline.

Yes, you read that correctly. The old fashioned form of communication we decrepit antique humans grew up using. It doesn’t take pictures or track your location or allow you to cruise porn…. but when the power goes out? It still works without charging. There’s something to be said for simple technology.

We hooked up a landline when we first moved to this house 22 years ago and never saw any need to cancel it. It’s the number we give to businesses and doctors offices and all those annoying things you sign up for that require one. It’s our junk call line and saves our cell phones from being inundated with spam.

Anyhoo…. I’ve noticed the line has been scratchy with distortion lately, but didn’t pay it much attention. Until the other day when my husband tried to use the phone and couldn’t. Sure enough, the line was stone cold dead.

After an aggravating half an hour trying to reach a non artificial life form at the phone company, I was connected to ‘Ruby’… who said she was from the Philippines but sounded like she got there by way of Mumbai. I explained the problem and after giving her my cell phone as a contact number, an appointment was made for a tech visit. Problem solved. Great.

I thought no more about it… until I started receiving random texts from unrecognized numbers in Idaho and Nebraska and South Dakota an hour later. They said, “What’s wrong with your phone? Have you blocked me?” and “Why haven’t I heard from you?” and “Hi! How have you been?”

I don’t know anyone in Idaho, Nebraska or South Dakota and the timing smells a bit fishy.

I had to give my cell number to the phone company because the phone I was calling about was dead…. and now I’m getting fishy texts.

Is everything a scam these days?

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