Amber

 I like it when my phone rings. Just like I like it when there is mail in my mailbox. I find it mildly exhilarating to discover that there are others out there in the world looking to contact me. I am pleased and happy to take a chance on having one more link in my human chain, or reestablishing a link that was already there. 

This being said, I suppose you can now understand why I pick up calls that my phone service labels "Scam Likely." First of all, the chance that it could possibly be some guy whose name happens to be Scam Likely makes it totally worth answering the phone because I think it would be fascinating to have a chat with a guy who spends so much of his life being ignored. Then, if it turns out to be more of a description than a label, it's still not an absolute. It says "likely." The only way to be absolutely certain would be to take the call and find out. 

Which is what I do. 

You never know when you're going to find someone out there on the other end of the line who truly has your best interest in mind. This hasn't happened yet, but I continue to believe in the endless potential of the human spirit. When Amber called me this morning as a duly deputized care specialist because her records show that I might be eligible for additional coverage. She just wanted to ask a few questions, like if I was enrolled in Medicare, parts A and B. She also wanted to know how old I was. When I told her that I was sixty years old, then qualified it by saying that I was actually more like sixty and a half, she persisted with the Medicare line. I told her that I wasn't really sure, since I don't know how one goes about signing up for the program. Is it something like Social Security that I've been paying into for all these years? Have I been making contributions to it via deductions from my paycheck? 

Amber hung up on me. 

The relative frequency of the calls I get making many of these same queries would suggest that maybe, someday, Amber will call back. If she does, I suppose I would be interested in finding out how she feels about being labeled as a Scam from the outset. Does she feel that what she is doing is a scam? Is she part of some mid-to-large-scale flimflam that is trying to fool me into handing over numbers that will lead me to surrendering all my wealth to them? Or is she truly interested in my welfare? 

Amber, if you're out there reading this, I hope you understand: I was only being obtuse with you in hopes of finding out more about you.