When I was working on the Channel Four series The Heart of The Dragon in the early 80s, there was suddenly a spate of phone calls with the caller using obscene language (“Do you want to f..k?”). One call even had a little child, who seemed barely able to speak (probably aged five), asking the obscene question, obviously being prompted by an adult in the background.
My response to the first call was stunned silence, not knowing what to do. After a couple more, I decided to take action and went out to buy a whistle, intending to blow the whistle really loudly down the phone line. Unfortunately, the nearest available whistles were from a children’s toy museum (Pollock’s Toy Museum in Scala Street). Being toys, they all had a low muffled sort of pitch to them, nowhere near shrill enough to deliver a shock to the perpetrator.
I went for Plan B. The next time the call came and the question was put to me, I said, “Pardon?” innocently. The caller was tricked into repeating his obscene question, thus making the obscenity lose its impact. After a few more “Pardon?”, he twigged and rang off in frustration with the parting shot, “Oh, f..k you!” It felt so good to have the tables turned on him, with him being the flustered one. The calls never came again.
(London, 1983)
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