Strange phone call                                            08/16/23
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Got a strange phone call this morning. It was a man claiming to be the
father of a friend. I haven't seen this friend for a couple weeks. The
man said that he had been talking  to my friend this morning, and that
my friend was suicidal. I told him I would check into it, and hung up.

I texted  and left  a voicemail  for my  friend, texted  a few  of his
family members that  I know, and even  talked to the folks  at 988. My
friend called  me back, and it  turned out that he  had received texts
from his father-in-law and his wife  already, with the same story. The
number that I had received a call  from was not his fathers (area code
wasn't even in the same state), and he was perfectly fine.

I'm not sure what the drama was about. The person didn't ask for money
or  any information,  but  they  clearly had  a  few  names and  phone
numbers. Perhaps  they were  looking to be  disruptive, or  maybe they
were of  that special variety  that gets  a cheap thrill  off meddling
with the lives of others. I'm not really sure, but I was quite glad to
know that my friend was just fine. In the future, if I ever get such a
call again,  I'll attempt to  mine as much info  out of the  caller as
possible.