If you have read any of my previous posts, you will see that I loved to make phony phone calls. You also have to remember that these were before Caller ID, so the person on the other end might have to accept that the call was legit.
There were a few dorm rooms that had phones. These phones were paid for by those who lived in the rooms, so not everybody had a phone. On the weekend after the final exams and before graduation, most of the guys in the dorms had left for the weekend. Nothing was going on at campus. Everything was pretty much shut down. About the only things opened were the dorms and the library. So, what do you get when you mix liquor, 4 guys, 3 days, and a phone? Trouble.
We went looking for a room, which was unlocked and had a phone. We found one. The occupants had gone home for the weekend. So, Friday night was when we started. It ended on Sunday. We went on constantly calling everywhere. While 2 guys were calling, 2 other guys were sleeping. One of our group spoke fluent French, and he called the Sorbonne in Paris to register for classes. We called China to ask to speak to the Leader of the Country. We didn't get through, but we did talk to some folks in Vietnam. In my British accent, I called the Israeli Embassy and told them that the British government didn't like their citizens being mistreated in Israel, and if they didn't stop, that meant war between Great Britain and Israel. I got as far as the ambassador's secretary, before I hung up. We also did some domestic pranks. We found that if you call the local numbers for hotels, instead of the 800 numbers, that they will believe you more. So, we called hotels in Honolulu to book their ballrooms for wedding receptions.
Now, I should say here that I do not condone our actions, nor do I suggest how one can make phony phone calls. This is just a story what we did in 1975.
There are many calls that we made, which I don't remember, because I was drunk. We even went to the school library and got pages out of phone books to call them. I do remember just calling people at random and to ask them what the weather was like where they were.
While one of the pranksters and I were standing in line for graduation practice the following weekend, the guy whose phone we used came up to us in a panic. He said that the school wasn't going to let him graduate until he paid his phone bill. He said the bill was $1500, and it came in a box. We looked shocked, and didn't tell him it was us. We just told him that if he could prove he wasn't at school, when these calls were made, then he wouldn't have to pay them. He said his father was going to kill him. He kept rambling about not knowing anyone in Paris or Vietnam. I hope his father didn't kill him. Sorry, guy. Oh, and thankfully Britain and Israel didn't go to war. But, one of our guys did get registered for the Sorbonne, but he never made it to class.
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