My uncle is a regular victim of prank calls from the kids in the neighborhood. His store is situated near a school and most kids drop by his store after classes. That made him an easy target for kids to make fun of; after all he was the funny old man who runs the candy store. He probably get at least one prank call a day. It did not bother him at first especially because he found the calls funny. The calls became annoying and insulting eventually when the kids found the old man laughing at their pranks and not seething with anger. That’s when he decided to get caller id.
Once he gets the calls, he’d allow them to finish and wait for the callers to hang up. Then he calls them back and says the exact things the caller said to him and hangs up. He would keep on calling until they don’t answer anymore. One time, a boy called looking for a Kevin. He said there was no Kevin there and that he had the wrong number. The boy keeps calling and keeps on asking for Kevin. He can hear other boys on the background laughing. Then another one called say his name was Kevin and asked if my uncle has taken any messages for him. My uncle just laughed and hanged up. He got the caller id and it is registered to a couple that goes to the same church, their son Kevin always in tow. He decided to call the kids back and looked for Kevin. When Kevin answered, he said “Hi Kevin, this is Mr. Smith from the candy store. I have a new message for you. Your mother dropped by the store and asked me to tell you that you are grounded for 4 weeks with no allowance, no internet and no TV. Tell your friends to go home and clean your room. Oh and no more phone privileges. Enjoy kid!” The kid’s mom didn’t really drop by but it must have scared the kid and his friends because his daily prank calls dropped from an average of 6 to 7 calls a day to just around 3 calls daily.
Another time, a kid called him and just sang “welcome to the candy shop” over and over again. My uncle hanged up after a few minutes. He called back the number and when the same kid answered, he sang “welcome to the candy shop” over and over, out of tune. He kept on singing until the kid hanged up.
Giving these pranksters a dose of their own medicine is a great way of handling. Plus making prank calls are just hilarious. This seems to be the perfect situation for the saying “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
