Acid or Alkaline?

Due to my less than creditworthy status, last summer I had a prepaid cellphone offered through Liberty Wireless. It served its purpose. I paid $19.99 a month and for that fee I received a grand total of 80 anytime minutes for the month. If I used more, I paid more--simple.

It was a great arrangement for someone working 15 hours a week at $10.00 an hour, but not a status quo I wanted to continue for an extended period of time, unless I intended to give up my present housing or stop eating.

Eventually that $19.99 paid off and one of the temp agencies with which I was signed called with an offer of a longterm temp position. (YAY!)

Two months into the assignment, an off the cuff conversation with my brother-in-law revealed the fact that I paid $39.99 for 200 anytime minutes and free nights and weekends. (Yup, I'd graduated!)

My brother-in-law was flabbergasted but he calmed down a little when I mentioned my credit situation. He then thought about it for a minute then offered to get a phone for me in his name. I thought about it for 000 one second then said, "Yes!"

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Fast forward to the present:-

I recently had an epiphany.

I've been giving this cell number out willy nilly to prospective suitors and noticed that after a few conversations the phone calls ceased. I didn't really pay it much mind because, hey, I know I'm interesting...

About two months ago during a conversation with a prospective suitor, he asked,

"Who's Ray Ricketts?" to which I replied

"My brother-in-law--why?" to which he replied

"Uhm hmmm" like I had a hidden agenda or something. I just laughed it off and concluded the conversation.

About three weeks later, when I thought about it, I realized that we hadn't spoken--I stopped laughing.

Could everyone else have thought I was creeping? And was he the only one honest enough to voice his opinions?

I thought about using the hide identity feature on the phone but decided against it. In my family, if you dial with a hidden identity--you keep on ringing.

So now, eventhough I'm aware of the caller ID quandary, I still give out my cell number sans warning, but now I watch to see who says something or not. This has now become my litmus test. I wanna see if a prospective suitor is acid or alkaline.