Where have the Obscene Phone Calls Gone?
When I had a mental health private practice in Tallahassee, Florida, my ad in the Yellow Pages included the line “Alternative Lifestyle Issues.” Gays and lesbians understood the coding to mean that I was a therapist friendly and informed about issues particular to them. But the line also seemed to attract some people from the more fringy edge of the sexual continuum, and I often got what amounted to obscene phone calls, under the guise of these men looking for therapeutic help.
One fellow called a number of times to make and reschedule appointments. He’d put down the phone in the middle of the arrangements and then come back on the line. It always sounded as if there was a washing machine thumping away in the background. Finally I thought to ask “Are you masturbating?” Silence. And then a ghastly “How did you know?”
Those kinds of phone calls, most identifiable by thumping and deep breathing on the other end, have ceased, even though here in Mississippi I still have “Alternative Lifestyle Issues” in my Yellow Pages ad. What’s stopped them?
It’s not that Mississippi has less phone masturbators than Florida. It’s caller ID and answering machines. I don’t know about you, but I virtually NEVER answer the phone when “Private” or “Unknown” comes up on the ID. I use my caller ID all the time to decide who to talk to and what calls can wait until I have finished what I am doing. And do you know what? Those “Privates” and “Unknowns” never leave messages. So an obscene caller has no way of reaching me directly and staying anonymous.
That’s my experience, and I don’t hear of obscene phone calls being a problem with others any more, unless the caller is so stupid or wanting to be caught that they go ahead and talk dirty anyway, even if they know they are being taped or identified. What’s yours?
From Your Romance Coach, Kathryn Lord
