I've told this story many times over the years, and I suspect that some folks don't believe it really happened. But I swear it's true.
My first industry contact was a programmer named Troy Lyndon. We were pretty good friends for many years so I wasn't surprised when he invited my wife and I to dinner so we could meet his new girlfriend.
I called his apartment to finalize our dinner plans and I apparently caught him in the middle of an argument with his roommate. I can only guess that the phone got knocked off its base before it had a chance to ring, because no one picked it up but I could hear the ENTIRE fight.
Troy was complaining that the rent check was late, his roommate was complaining that Troy owed him money for the phone bill. Then the subject changed to dirty dishes and laundry all over the floor. They were really screaming at each other and almost coming to blows.
Someone stormed off to a different room and then I heard someone else hang up the phone.
I'm not sure what gave me the idea, but an evil plan began to form in my mind. I waited a few minutes and called Troy back. He picked up the phone and the conversation went like this: (did I mention that I minored in Theater?)
My first industry contact was a programmer named Troy Lyndon. We were pretty good friends for many years so I wasn't surprised when he invited my wife and I to dinner so we could meet his new girlfriend.
I called his apartment to finalize our dinner plans and I apparently caught him in the middle of an argument with his roommate. I can only guess that the phone got knocked off its base before it had a chance to ring, because no one picked it up but I could hear the ENTIRE fight.
Troy was complaining that the rent check was late, his roommate was complaining that Troy owed him money for the phone bill. Then the subject changed to dirty dishes and laundry all over the floor. They were really screaming at each other and almost coming to blows.
Someone stormed off to a different room and then I heard someone else hang up the phone.
I'm not sure what gave me the idea, but an evil plan began to form in my mind. I waited a few minutes and called Troy back. He picked up the phone and the conversation went like this: (did I mention that I minored in Theater?)
| JOHN Hey, Troy. Um... Are you okay? TROY (still sounding a little annoyed) Yeah, I'm fine. Why? JOHN I was out mowing the lawn just now and suddenly my vision just went kind of... dark. It was like I could see you in your apartment and you were really upset or something. TROY (now sounding sort of startled) I... What? JOHN It's stupid, I know, but I just wanted to call and make sure you were okay. It was just so... real... I could even hear voices. It sounded like you were having a big fight with your roommate. TROY I was! I was having a big fight with my roommate just a few minutes ago! JOHN Were you arguing about your roommate's rent check being late, and the... phone bill? TROY YES! OH MY GOD! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! |
That night at dinner it was REALLY hard for me to keep a straight face, but our conversation was dominated by talk about ESP, paranormal phenomenon and the untapped potential of the human brain. Troy kept saying, "I never believed in this stuff before, but how else can you explain it?" He was so excited.
I feel kind of guilty that I never told him the truth.
I feel kind of guilty that I never told him the truth.
RSS Feed
