Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Hush hush

Our landline number was once assigned to a café, and occasionally, we receive a call from someone who has found it on a database. Usually, it's a salesman who wants us to switch our electricity supply to his company.

A call I received at 10.15 this morning, however, was different.

A woman who refused to identify herself said she was trying to trace a former employee of the café.

When I asked who she was, she demanded to know who I was.

Eventually, she said she was from a "government agency" but refused to specify which one.

Of course, she could have been a debt chaser, but I felt she was telling the truth.

If so, I find it very sinister that government employees are authorised to make anonymous telephone calls to private homes, demanding information.

What purpose do they serve by such subterfuge? An individual with a less robust personality than mine could find such an experience upsetting.