A Boy and his Area Code
As a result of my super-dee-dooper new cell phone, I’ve got a new number for you all to take down:
(917) 328-8233
But, you say, you have been talking all this shit at us about number portability, and how it is a Good Thing and no one need ever change their number again. Why do you not port your old number to the new phone? I hear this, but I just do not want the old 347 number. The fact of the matter is that my bourgeois conceits have led me to believe that a 347 area code is beneath me. I am a child of 212 and I will not be beholden to an area code that is too young to be potty-trained. The damn thing didn’t exist until I was in college, and it’s the third overlay on the New York area. If area codes are going to have little to with geography (and soon nothing at all to do with it), then I at least want one with some history, FFS.
917 makes me feel much better than 347 ever could; this number of mine has been through plenty of devices, I’m sure. From pagers to car phones, 917 was the currency of the wireless realm for many moons, and my nifty number, only needing three keys, could have been used by kings and princes (or him).
This is not intended as a diatribe against those with 347 numbers. I only wish to lead by example; to show the huddled masses that there is an escape from the ‘freedom’ of number portability. It is merely a choice each man must make: to knuckle under to the system which keeps the good numbers in blocks for fat cats and corporate exchanges, or to cast off the shackles of 347 and say you deserve better. You have nothing to lose but a wack-ass phone number.
evan :: Dec.15.2003 :: Notices :: 13 Comments »
When I bought my cellphone about a year ago, I actually chose 646 *OVER* 917, because I was proud of the fact that I am new to New York City and that I will soon be taking over the world and trouncing on everyone else, so PBTHTHTH—
Love, socetew
So. You published your cell phone number. On the Internet. On the same site where you share all your opinions about politics and stupid people. Let the games begin….
I took a 718 cell phone number to represent Brooklyn, and look where it got me. It confuses the hell out of the guy on the phone when I order Chinese food.
But I totally feel you on the 917 thing. That’s that old school shit. Like those beepers that showed you the news.
yeah, why don’t you publish our home phone number, too? that would be fun!
I mean, I don’t have my real name or phone number anywhere on my website, but I DO include them on all of my CDs.. I figure the business gains of allowing potential clients to contact me far outweigh the risks of giving my cellie # away freely, plus my knowing my cellphone doesn’t give away my actual home address.
peace, soce
My info is not at all hard to find, and it doesn’t bother me. My resume has been online for years, with my home phone number, and I don’t get telemarketing calls or stalkers. There are some things that are important to keep private, but my phone numbers and address really aren’t them. Much better to be worried about how often you have to give your Social Security number out.
evan’s ss #: 436-12-5609
p.s. he has really good credit.
Actually, Evan’s FICO score is 697–decent, but he’s not a creditor’s wet dream or anything.
Evan scored a 1200 on his SATs.. not bad, my friend.
OK, now you’re just getting slanderous. You guys are perhaps making the point that there are things you don’t want posted on the internet. I never said otherwise. But making the shit up is only going to bring grief to the poor bastard whose social is 436-12-5609 and who perhaps scored 1200 on his SAT.
It’s being paranoid about one’s contact details that is just silly. Conceal your various metrics of high-school level intellectual performance all you want, but if you think your name, address and phone number are any kind of secret, then you probably belong in a shack in Montana, turning cow shit into truck bombs.
No, but Evan’s FICO score really is 697! Feel free to use this information against him.
(Note: Evan’s FICO score is not actually 697. Its 702.)
Ha, didn’t expect to start a riot. Anyway, I think a resourceful stalker could get Evan’s cell phone number if they wanted to.
Even so, it does cross a line of some sort. Imagine stumbling across a random blog, some dude you’ve never met and will never meet, going on about gay marriage or Strom Thurmond or whatever hot topic. You get worked up, you rant, you maybe comment - but you’re mollified by the idea that the speaker is not actually real to you. Just some dude out on the Internet to whom you’ll never speak, whom you’ll never even see. Something like a cell phone number bridges that divide in a way that comments and e-mail can’t. Just dial the number - instantly, this Internet stranger has a voice, an actual presence in the world. I think it’s really cool. Evan, if you ever do get any calls because your number’s on here, let me know. I’m intrigued.
And don’t even get me started on social security numbers. It’s like having a username without a password, and you only get one for every single thing you do! I mean, come on!
Well I, for one, am very pleased to know how I can get hold of my friend Evan by phone, since his old (347) number no longer works.
You can get anyone’s SS#, address, or land-line number on Lexis-Nexis or FlatRate. Cell numbers are a bit harder to come by.
blue plastic coffee