They’d Better Hope You Don’t Hold A Grudge

In the early aughts, I worked at directory enquiries for the entire country. There were several offices taking calls in several different cities. However, during the night, there were only two offices open to take calls, and on weekday nights, we were maybe ten people in total to service all the callers. For people who knew the system, it was pretty easy to keep calling until you reached the operator you wanted to talk to.

The movie “The Grudge” had just premiered in the theatre. I watched it with a friend and was scared senseless by it. On the way home, he kept joking about how scary it would be to hear the ghost noise out of nowhere. I agreed and didn’t think more about it. 

A few days later, it was my turn to work a night shift, and just after midnight, I got this call.

Me: “Welcome to Directory Enquiries. How can I help you?”

There was silence on the other end.

Me: “Hello? You’ve reached Directory Enquiries. I’m [My Name]. How can I help you?”

Caller: “Aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh….”

Me: “God d*** it, [Friend]!”