Weird Sh*t in My Life #137
My memory’s a bit fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure I’ve only received 3 international phone calls in my life.
One was to my family back when I was a kid, from my dad when he was deployed overseas with the United States Navy. Another was from QuietStorm when she studied abroad in the UK back in 2004. And the other one was…
…today 
In one of the most certifiably weird moments of my life, I was sitting at my desk during my lunch break at the internship when I got a phone call. From Mexico.
Given my history of being called for political polls and telemarketers and other wastes of time (and not knowing anyone who lives in Mexico) I decided to let it go to voicemail and if it was important they’d leave message.
Then they did 
The first thought running through my mind was “This has gotta be a scam.” So I dialed my voicemail and started listening to the message.
The first words were “Hi Greg, my name is [Some Person]. ((I’m keeping genders and other identifying info ambiguous so these folks aren’t readily identifiable.)) My [former spouse in a Midwestern state] and I want to hire you…” — at which point I thought definitely a scam 
 — “…for advice on how to help our [kid] at [a UNC-system institution].”
The caller left their Skype contact info, and also said they’d call me back in 30 minutes if I didn’t have Skype. A prospect which, being the still more-or-less-brand-new guy at the job, I figured was probably a bad idea since I wouldn’t be on my lunch break anymore when they called back.
So I fired up Skype and called them myself 
Turns out the call was legit. Their kid is a highly-accomplished student facing the most serious penalty a university can provide, for what I’d consider a fairly minor (and notoriously common) offense… all due to the UNC system’s zero-tolerance “circumstances don’t matter” anti-drug policy. They were looking for background info on how the judicial process operates, what they should do as next steps, recommendations for attorneys in the area, and so on.
I’ll forgo the rest of the details and our conversation back-and-forth ((I respectfully declined the offer for payment since the meager non-legal help I provided wouldn’t do much good anyhow 
)) — I’ve got a rant about zero-tolerance policies for another day and time — but the crazy part is that so far as I’ve been able to tell I don’t know these folks, haven’t heard of them, and have no apparent connection to them of any kind beyond the fact the kid and I attend separate institutions in the same statewide University system.
And like a dummy I didn’t think to ask how they found me
On the exceptionally-slim-but-nonzero chance the kid (or either of the parents) happen to read this entry, I hope things turn out better than they usually do for folks who find themselves in the crosshairs of the student conduct folks. And if they don’t, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome through patience and perseverance; very few punishments in life are permanent.
Consider: if they let someone like me get a degree, damn near anyone can do it… 
Just thought I’d share that particular oddity from my day 
 Have a good night everybody!
