Do Not Use That Tone With Me

Kathy is wife of a military man and mother of three small children. Her Husband Jim has been in the military for the past 11 years. He is frequently away from home on missions for several months at a time. Kathy is use to the military life and fully supports her husband any way she can.

She lives in a quiet neighborhood not too far from the military installation. She has never had any problems with her neighbors. They are a very patriotic bunch who supports the military. She is home alone with the kids a lot but usually her problems are limited to things like flooded toilets, child discipline and loneliness. She learned to cope by keeping busy at some things she likes doing.

One night in late December, when Jim was away, Kathy received a phone call from someone who asked to speak to her husband. Without thinking she said I am sorry Jim is out of town for a while. She asked if she could help, but there was an abrupt dial tone and they were gone. Kathy did not think much of it until later.

She began to receive phone calls, where the person on the other end would quickly hang up. Later the calls included heavy breathing and vulgar language. Kathy decided it was time to report the calls to the Phone Company. The phone company tried to trace the calls but to no avail.

The calls kept coming. They increased in frequency and each time they became more threatening. Finally Kathy reported them to the police. The police gave her instructions on how and what information to record. They told her there was really nothing they could do unless she knew who was making the calls.
Kathy found this alarming after all she had three small kids. Kathy eventually had to fly her older brother from her hometown to live with her and answer the phone. After he started answering the phone the harassing calls soon stopped.

Harassing phone calls are aggravating to the receiver. The real threat comes with not really knowing the exact intention of the caller. It can cause sleepless nights and tension as you wait to see how it plays out. Most harassing callers target women. Harassing phone calls can range from the heavy breathing to the violent threats. In some states just calling and hanging up is considered harassment.

People deal with harassing phone calls in different ways. Most experts agree that you should just hang up as soon as you discover it is a harassment call and report it to the Phone Company. The caller is looking for satisfaction by involving you emotionally. If you respond you will be playing into their hands. If you hang up you remove the source of his punishment.

Callers sometime try to stake out a residence by placing one call to see who answers. If a male answers they may quickly hang up and never call again. If a female answers they may try to learn your marital status or other information for future use. If a child answers they may try to extract other information. Teach your children not to talk to strangers on the phone.

To end these kinds of calls you can have your number changed. That will involve changing the number with all family and important contacts. If you feel the call is threatening enough go ahead and make a police report. Most of the time harassing phone calls are someone out to irritate you on the other end. If the caller suspects there are other people at home they will cease the calls.

The effectiveness of their harassment depends on continued agitation of a selective person. It places the person in a state of fear. Single women are most likely to be harassed over the phone. While most are just irritating, you should consider all harassing phone calls serious. You never know the intent of the caller.