The Girlfriend wants me to make it perfectly clear that her original choice for a birthday present was the "Timeless Art of Seduction." However, one day I mention how I hate art and people who hang stuff on their walls, so she decided to go in a different direction. What I meant was, I hate when people hang gay-ass paintings of the ocean or geometric shapes--pretentious expensive crap that isn't close to interesting (i.e., modern art)--there are other things I'd much rather look at (like a bare wall) but anything related to "Seinfeld," "The Simpsons," or Kevin Smith movies is always a plus in my book. To reiterate--I have a wonderful girlfriend who does know me very well...and by writing this I am clearly whipped.

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Yesterday I received a phone call from someone who claimed to be Sprint. Granted, I do have about a million different issues with Sprint that have to be resolved, but I certainly wasn't expecting anyone to call me. Nevertheless I welcomed the opportunity to resolve this problem.

"Is this Mr. Nerd," they asked.

"Yes it is."

"To verify your identity, I'm going to need your social security number."

That threw me for a loop. First of all they called me--not the other way around. I should be asking for her social security number to verify her identity. In this day of identity theft, is it really wise for me to be giving my social to someone who calls me--even if they claim to be from a company I do business with? They could be calling from anywhere (someone's garage, a prison cell) and I have no proof they are who they claim to be. At least when I call Sprint, I know the phone number has direct ties to Sprint and I am speaking to a Sprint employee.

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable giving that information out," I said to her. "You know, in this day and age of identity theft--I really don't know who you are."

She got curt with me and said to call back their hotline if I wanted to resolve the situation.

Did I play that wrong (says the guy currently waiting on hold with Sprint)? I might've been able to solve my billing problem without having to wait on hold forever. But the fact of the matter is I wasn't ready to discuss my problem at the time. Plus, there's that whole security issue. I had a valid concern.

This morning when I called Sprint, I heard the rep reading my account history. The woman who called me yesterday said I was being difficult and "refused to give out any personal information." Talk about a total bitch. How often do they call customers who freely disclose their social? To me, that's just a stupid, stupid thing to do. If that's makes me difficult, than I don't wanna be easy.

© 2007 siknerd.com