'Night crew' receives some interesting calls

I wouldn't say our "night crew" here at the office has been bombarded with what I would call strange telephone calls since we transformed last year to a morning publication.

We do get our share of people calling "after hours" about classified ads -- either wanting more information about a classified they have read in the Greene County Daily World or The Shopper, or wanting to place an ad.

We courteously tell them that we "don't do that on this shift" and ask them to call back when our helpful ad staff is on duty from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In recent weeks we have gotten a couple of other telephone that makes one wonder what is going on with this nation's high-tech communication system.

It seems there are a couple of radio stations in places like New York, Arizona and Alaska that have toll-free telephone numbers very similar to our 800 number here at the Greene County Daily World -- 1-800-947-4487.

Maybe they've punched in a wrong number, but it's strange that it's happened multiple times -- all from people trying to connect with a radio station call-in contest in a different part of the country.

They've all been disappointed when I've informed them they were not the lucky winning caller and they were not going to be receiving that special gift that was being hyped by some on-air radio disc jockey thousands of miles away from Greene County.

Believe me, it's been tempting on more than one occasion to "play them" a bit and see their reaction when I proclaimed -- "You are the winner!!!"

But then that would be cruel -- not to mention dishonest.

On Wednesday night, I got a call from a young woman in Soldotna, Alaska trying to make a song request to radio station "KKIS-FM All Hits Radio" in Keani, Alaska.

The old time news reporter in me surfaced and I asked her a couple of questions.

The curiosity was killing me as to why we are getting all of these radio station calls.

She matter-of-factly told me she was wanting to make a song request to a radio station not far from where she lived, but far enough away that she wanted to call toll-free to save a couple of bucks.

When I informed her that this was a daily newspaper in southern Indiana and not her radio station destination, there was a momentary silence on the other end of the telephone line.

Then the woman laughed and said, "What's the weather like there?"

I informed her that we had enjoyed a sunny day with about 60 degrees in the Hoosier State.

"Here (in Alaska), it was 35 degrees and nice and balmy. That's warm for us in early spring," she replied.

It's funny how weather is a universal topic of conversation.

When I asked her what number she was actually trying to call, she quickly replied, "1-800-947-HITS."

I asked if she was very sure that was the correct number and she rattled it off again, "I-800-947-HITS."

Translated into digits that's 1-800-947-4487 -- the exact same number as the Daily World's toll-free line.

Is that strange or what?

I can't explained it.

Chalk one up for technology.

Incidentally, Soldotna is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the southern part of Alaska.

The city has a population of 4,087 and is the home to the world's largest caught King Salmon that weighed a whopping 97 pounds and 4 ounces.

Now in terms a good old boy from southern Indiana might understand, that big fish would sure make a heaping helping of salmon patties, don't you think?

Nick is assistant editor for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or 1-800-947-4487 or by e-mail at nschneider@gcdailyworld.com or schneider.nick@gmail.com