WRONG PERSON

Mary Lee  recently had a cute post about the many messages she kept getting on her cell that was obviously a wrong number. It reminded me of a time when I was a victim of right name but wrong number.

While I was living in Florida I discovered there was a person who shared my name. The "Patti" clone not only carried my first and last name but we also shared a gynecologist plus had links to the same boyfriends. Only our middle initials and life styles were different.

When it first came to light for me was when I made my annual trip to my gynecologist for a pap smear.  The nurse held my chart and led me to a room I hadn't been to before. I thought it odd that there was no exam table with stirrups in sight. She told me to bare my butt as she  prepared a needle.

"Whoa," I said. " I am not here for shots."

"Oh yes you are," she countered a bit sternly while drawing a fluid into the syringe. "You need a booster for the STD (sexually transmitted disease) we have been treating."

I pulled up my pants up rapidly and said there had to be a mistake.

"You are Patricia Ann ***** aren't you?"

"No," I said a quite relieved. "Patricia Louise *****."

Oops--someone had the wrong file.  Now you know why they ask for your birth date these days.

I was telling my boyfriend about the mix up which by then was funny. His roommate Leo heard us talking and said,"Oh yeah, I use to date that Patti. She teaches music at the high school."

I reminded him of  the STD part and hoped he would do some checking himself.

I started getting random calls for her on my phone. Evidently her number was unlisted, mine was not. Any one checking the phone book or calling information for her number, got mine.

Unable to get her number, I called her school asked her if there wasn't some way to stop the calls. However, she was really snippy with me. She said her number had to be unlisted and it was basically tough buns my getting her calls. Harrumph!

Now I could  have change my number and had it put on the unlisted status also but I was single and had no reason to hide. So I suffered.

The other Patti evidently did some pub crawling and when guys would ask for her phone number, she probably gave them her right name, then told them her number was in the phone book. Most of those calls, which came in the wee   hours, were hard to understand as their voices were a bit slurred.  It had all the charm of having my number scrawled on the men's bathroom wall following, "for a good time call-------."  

The final straw came when about 10 of her students called one Saturday afternoon asking if they were supposed to wear their gowns for the dress rehearsal that night.

I no longer denied being her and said each time, "No, you won't need your gown," and hung up. I was hoping that was the wrong answer. Maybe then she would see just how many calls I was getting when half her choir showed up improperly dressed.

Tired of being her social secretary, I caved and had my number changed and added to the unlisted category. The unwanted calls stopped but I am sure some of the wanted ones did also.

No, I never met her and never wanted to. I do hope her STD cleared up however.

Have you ever been mistaken for someone else?