Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for September 04, 2015

How about a prank telegrams?

So call the house phone instead.:BTW, was Pig going to give his full name as “Joe Mama”?

That seems out-of-character for Pig. Prank calling is something I would expect more from Rat.

You can still prank-call with a cell phone if you punch in 67 before you dial the number. *There: I’ve given away my secret as to how I can get people who are avoiding me to pick up.

Actually, you can prank call still. While there may not be too many phone booths left (can’t remember seeing one in a while but won’t rule out the possibility) there are still pay phones you can use if you’re willing to pay to make a prank. You could always borrow someone else’s cell/smartphone to call on and obviously it won’t come up as you. Get a new phone number and they won’t know it’s you. And in some cases even with caller id the number doesn’t show. We’ve got phone, net, and cable in a bundle and I love that almost whenever we get a phone call, as long as we’re watching TV and not DVDs, we get the number and ID up on the TV screen. Sometimes, though, we get two numbers and have no idea whose calling until the answering machine picks up (yes, screening calls). But on very rare occasions nothing, not even a phone number, pops up on the screen.

Not everyone has a smartphone, Pig. You can prank-call me!

A prank call from pig I could deal with.It’s the &$%#@ telemarketers who drive me meshuga.Yes, I’m on the Do Not Call list but it Do Not Work!

Well, at least that dumb Pig has a sense of humor.

Moon, since you’re on the do not call list, you know an important thing about any telemarketer that calls: They’re not legit.

Candygram!

I miss those days

*67 used to work. “I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested.”

And I also doubly don’t answer “Unknown” phone calls. If it’s important, leave a message.

If I’m home and don’t recognize the number (or it’s ‘unknown’ or ‘unavailable’) I pick up and hang up immediately, that way it doesn’t go to the answering machine (they never leave a message anymore, anyway). I know that if it’s someone I know, they’ll call right back (‘cause they think there’s something wrong with either my phone or their’s), and then I’ll answer. IMHO, do not call lists are totally useless.

Robo callers use phony names and phone numbers. Call them back and the number is “not in service”. I finally found out about www.nomorobo.com and shut off almost all junk calls.

Can he not hide his phone number?

xxx

Duct tape’ll fix that.

You can get an account with Skype and use it to call land-lines or cell-phones for a fee. The person you call will see one of Skype’s numbers as the Caller-ID.

Bart Simpsons had better hope Moe Szyslak doesn’t upgrade.

You can actually prank-call somebody! Just go to your phone’s Settings and turn off your Caller ID. When the person you call receives the call, it’ll appear as “No Caller ID”. That way, you can prank call anybody!

Ever have anyone call and ask you if your fridge is running? Sheesh! I should have said “No, I don’t let mine out after dark”.