1-800-I-DON'T-THINK-SO

The phone rings this morning and I look at the caller ID. It is a 1-800 number. Normally I don't answer these, but I just hit the 'talk' button. Don't ask me why. I think I just wanted the phone to stop ringing so I could drink my coffee in peace before it got cold. I say, "Hello?"

On the other end I hear this woman hurriedly announce her name and ask if my name is Karen M#$#%*n? I say yes and then she says "Blahblahblahblahblah you owe $24,900 blahblahblah." WTH? I almost dropped my coffee mug.

As I pick my chin up from off of the floor I say, "Excuse me?"

Then she repeats slower saying, "You owe $24,900 in student loans."

I say, "Ummm. No I don't."

She says, "Is your name Karen M%#$#$n?"

I say, "Yes, but it wasn't when I went to school."

She says," Was it Karen L##%#$?"

I say, "No. It was Karen F#%d."

She then asks for my date of birth. I give it. Then she asks for the last 4 digits of my social security number. (I don't think so.) I told her I didn't feel comfortable giving her that. Then she asks if she can have my address so that I won't receive any mail from them in the future. I start to give it to her and then don't finish.

So, what is that about? Just because my name is Karen M#%##n doesn't mean that I'm your Karen M$$%n !!!!! I have a VERY common last name. I think there are 4 of them in just the small town that I live in, so there have to be a ton out there.

It really rattled me. I think I had heart palpitations. Seriously.

Now had it been a credit card company saying I owed that much to J Crew, then that's a different story. Just kidding, honey! (Husband reads my blog. Don't want him to have a heart attack.)