Fear of the Unknown

People who cannot do without their cell phones also know the hazards of answering unknown calls. This is because for most cell phone users, all necessary and semi necessary people's numbers are saved in their contacts list. So when an unknown number comes creeping in it is always a dilemma of whether to take it or not.
What if it's an emergency we often think, what if it is a long lost friend whose number you have lost, prompting us to answer. More often than not it is someone you would have liked to have avoided had you been wiser.
It could be for instance, a bill collector – the most hated of callers. Credit card companies have hired these persons to do their dirty work of incessantly calling their clients to the point of harassment to pay their dues. What's more, despite saving the number as 'Irritant 1' or 'Shylock1' you are not spared. These tenacious individuals will call from various numbers to dupe you into answering and hence feeling irritated enough to pay the bill. Mobile phone companies and banks also have an army of these persistent, pesky employees whose only job is to make these calls, offering special offers of 'talk time', platinum cards, bonus points and what not.
Stalkers and members of your very own hate club – if you are important enough – will also use various numbers to get at you. Even if you block the numbers they will find yet another number to call or text you with.
Weirder still is when you get unknown calls from overseas. Naturally you think it must be a relative you haven't been in contact but often it is someone from Ryadh demanding to know why Mukles Bhai isn't answering this number.
There are people who have cell phones but have run out of people to call. These individuals just dial randomly and then stalk their baffled victims. They don't care about age, gender or race. They just call because they are bored and want to 'do friendship with you'. Cursing and swearing actually eggs them on and they will ask in saccharin sweet tones why you are getting so mad, why not talk a little. The best way to deal with these pests is to answer the call and then leave the phone on the table and go about your business – hopefully they will get bored with an unresponsive victim or be worried about the bill that is soaring as the minutes tick by.
More often than not, however, unknown calls come from people who want some kind of favour – a donation, to publish something, to arrange a meeting with your boss, to invite you to an excruciatingly boring seminar, to ask about a colleague of marriageable age and so on. Everytime you take one of these calls you feel like banging your head on the wall for that momentary lapse of reason that goaded you to answer ignoring that knot of foreboding in your stomach. You feel like a trapped tiger but there is nothing you can do but accept your fate. Some people get all panicky and think that saying “Hello, hello” loudly a few times and hanging up is an easy escape. But that worked in the old days of land phones. Nobody buys this tactic anymore.
To answer or not answer an unknown call – that is the question. Sometimes keeping the phone on voicemail is a good way of keeping undesirable calls at bay. But then it might be a call from the firm that interviewed you for a job saying they need you to come to the office right away. It could be from the radio station announcing that you have won a free roundtrip ticket to Rome and need to call in the next five minutes to claim your prize. It could be your significant other who has finally melted from severe iciness and has deigned to call back. In such emergencies voice messages can do permanent damage.
Very rich and important people have secretaries to answer their calls, screen them and then pass them or lose them accordingly. For lesser mortals a good strategy would be to pretend someone else is taking the call, preferably a child who cannot be held accountable for not passing on the message. Practicing your best squeaky voice is therefore the answer.