On a quiet evening, I was sitting on an armchair with my eyes closed, feeling weary after work. I was about to go into slumber when the phone rang.
I was hoping for a moment of peace, but I was expecting a call from a friend. Reluctantly, I got up and picked up the phone. "Hello."
When I heard the voice at the other end of the line, I realized that the caller was not someone I know. The caller introduced herself and asked me if I wanted to take part in a survey. This shouldn't take long, I told myself. I agreed to it and she began asking questions.
"What is your level of education?" she asked.
"I have an university degree," I said.
"Is it a bachelor degree, a masters degree, a doctorate, or is it something else?"
"I have a masters."
"All right. How much did you earn last year?"
I was hesitant to tell a stranger what my income was, especially over the phone. So I said "I would rather not answer that."
"That's fine, " she replied. "What is your occupation?"
"I am working as a research assistant at this moment."
"What projects are you working on right now?"
Why someone doing a survey would be interested in asking what kind of projects I was participating, I had no idea. I politely told her that I preferred not to answer the question.
"And how long had you been a research assistant?"
"For the last few months," I answered. Then I started to wonder what this survey was all about, maybe a study about salaries in various fields of work.
She then changed the subject abruptly. "What is your marital status?"
Another question I was reluctant to answer. So I declined answering.
"She then asked "how many children do you have?"
My suspicion grew and I wondered why such personal questions were being asked. I told her that I prefer not to answer the question. Then I asked her why these questions were asked. She told me that her organization was working on collecting data from those who live in my neighbourhood.
I pondered whether I should hang up the phone. I told myself that they might call again if I end the call abruptly. So, reluctantly, I chose not to end the conversation.
She resumed asking questions. "Let's continue, shall we? How much do you spend on groceries per month?"
I made up an amount and used that as an answer. She then asked "and how often do you go out for meals?"
I began to think that I have figured out the purpose of this survey. However, I thought I needed to hear another couple of questions to be sure. So I came up with another figure to answer the latest question.
Her next question was "how much you spend on clothing each month?"
Another figure was uttered and she then asked whether I have any favourite brands.
The purpose of this call finally hit me — whoever was calling was trying to get as much information about me as possible. Since she never mentioned that she was working for the government, she might be collecting data for marketing firms to send promotional materials to me, or someone who was trying to pry into my life. I needed a way to end this call immediately.
"I'm sorry. You have asked too many questions that I would rather not answer. So I don't think we should continue the survey."
I seemed to hear her voice changing after I made that statement. "The survey was almost finished and there was just a few questions left," she told me.
Of course, I had no way of knowing if she was telling the truth. So I had to find a more forceful way to end this call. I thought of the friend who promised to call me and I realized I had a perfect excuse to end the conversation, even though he has not called yet. "I'm sorry. I have another call coming in. I have to take this call right now."
She seemed to have become resigned. She "thanked" me for taking part and hung up. "Why didn't I end this call sooner?" and "It could have been anyone." were the only thoughts in my mind after I put down the phone.
A couple of minutes after that conversation ended, the phone rang again. I thought of not picking up the phone, fearing that it might be a conversation like the last one. It might also be my friend calling, so I picked up the the speaker and said "hello."
A familiar voice pronounced my name. It was the friend whose call I was expecting. We exchanged greetings. After that, the first words that came out of my mouth were "where couldn't you call sooner?"