China Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Md. father uses robocall to get revenge on school officials Awakened at 4:33 a.m. Wednesday by a ringing phone, Aaron Titus jumped out of bed in a panic. Maybe something terrible had happened, he thought. Even if nothing was wrong, his heart raced with other considerations: His five children, ages 5 and under, including his week-old daughter, were mercifully still asleep, and he wanted to keep it that way. In a blurry rush, Titus answered the phone halfway into the second ring, listening in disbelief to an automated caller tell him what he already knew: It was a snow day. School would open two hours late. In other words, he and his family could sleep. But now he couldn't. "I thought, 'C'mon, people. Really?" he recalls. Sometime later in the day, the 31-year-old father from Fort Washington, a lawyer who knows a thing or two about technology, made a decision that might well bring amused satisfaction to like-minded parents everywhere. Titus arranged for an automated message of his own. He found a robocall company online, taped a message and listed every phone number he could find for nine school board members (sparing the student member), Superintendent William R. Hite and General Counsel Roger C. Thomas. At 4:30 a.m. Thursday, phones began ringing with 29 seconds of automated, mocking objection: "This is a Prince George's County School District parent, calling to thank you for the robocall yesterday at 4:30 in the morning. I decided to return the favor. While I know the school district wanted to ensure I drop my child off two hours late on a snow day, I already knew that before I went to bed. I hope this call demonstrates why a 4:30 a.m. call does more to annoy than to inform.'' It ended: "Quit robocalling parents at 4:30 in the morning or at least allow us to opt out of these intrusive calls." Titus says the automated calling service reported back that, of the 19 phone numbers he supplied for school officials, "eight live people picked up" when the predawn call was made. Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Read this earlier. Funny, and good for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnyderShrugged Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 after this week, I appreciate his revenge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebluefood Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 That's friggin' incredible. Well played, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnhay Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 That's 4:30 in the mornin'! You 'posed to be up cookin' brefas or somebody! Woo woooo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 and had this parent not known and dropped his kid off 2 hours early, i'm sure he wouldn't have complained one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjah Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 and had this parent not known and dropped his kid off 2 hours early, i'm sure he wouldn't have complained one bit. He was complaining about the hour, not necessarily the call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 and had this parent not known and dropped his kid off 2 hours early, i'm sure he wouldn't have complained one bit. My thoughts exactly. He'd have been pissed if his kids were out in the cold for 2 hours. My wife gets text messages from her college. It's only a slight beep on her phone and it doesn't wake up the whole household. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I'm sure that this is what the school board members intended. In fact, I'm sure that they personally recorded the robocall and instructed that it be sent out at 4:30 am for maximum irritation of their constitutents. Because, as we all know, no errors are ever made by low level government functionaries. Everything is planned. (actually his revenge is pretty funny....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 That's 4:30 in the mornin'! You 'posed to be up cookin' brefas or somebody! Woo woooo! !!!!!! The Bubb Rubb CLASSIC! ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofSparta Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 and had this parent not known and dropped his kid off 2 hours early, i'm sure he wouldn't have complained one bit. Right, because it's not like every morning news show, radio station, or local news website wouldn't be listing every delay and cancellation. If parents pay so little attention to these that the school district is forced to robo-call parents at 4:30 AM to make sure they don't leave their kids in the cold for 2 hours, then perhaps he should be more involved with the local PTA (and perhaps the police) to prevent it. That said, this was a brilliant and hilarious revenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homercles82 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I am glad Spotsylvania county did not do this. They waited until 5:35AM Wednesday morning to call a 2 hour delay. Buses run at 5:45AM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Funny. Am I the only person who observes that I believe it's a criminal act to phone someone for the purpose of harassment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboDaMan Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Funny. Am I the only person who observes that I believe it's a criminal act to phone someone for the purpose of harassment?I'm thinking we'donly have a crime if he did it over and over again. Hats off to the school board members who took the rebuke with good grace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLSkins Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 What's a snow day? ---------- Post added January-14th-2011 at 04:11 PM ---------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 He was complaining about the hour, not necessarily the call. not everyone goes to work in suits and ties. many, many, many people start their work day by 4:30. (not that i don't think 4:30 is early, it is...but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 He was complaining about the hour, not necessarily the call. Maybe he should have just rolled over and went back to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 That's 4:30 in the mornin'! You 'posed to be up cookin' brefas or somebody! Woo woooo! :rotflmao: Well done. and had this parent not known and dropped his kid off 2 hours early, i'm sure he wouldn't have complained one bit. My thoughts exactly. He'd have been pissed if his kids were out in the cold for 2 hours. My wife gets text messages from her college. It's only a slight beep on her phone and it doesn't wake up the whole household. Right, because most parents don't check for school delays and closings on TV/radio/Internet whenever there's snow. Hell, most kids learn to do that by 2nd grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 :Right, because most parents don't check for school delays and closings on TV/radio/Internet whenever there's snow. Hell, most kids learn to do that by 2nd grade. not sure where i said most don't. but the ones that don't ***** loud and clear if they neglect to get the message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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