Watch this video. Back in our newspaper days, we had to deal with this type of person on the phone — and in person — all the time.
We are specifically reminded of the time that a JFK conspiracy theorist got past security and was standing at our desk as we were trying to write a story on deadline.
He insisted on explaining how his apartment had been bugged by the FBI since the early ’70s and — yes — how his movements had been monitored by helicopters.
All of us who have worked in newsrooms have engaged in enlightening conversations with these types. It goes with the job.
For a change in pace, I got calls from guys who identified themselves as my “servant” or “knave.” No kidding. Fortunately for me, these guys were harmless.
Mine was a woman who called repeatedly to discuss her theory on Legionnaires’ Disease. She was convinced it came from the graves in cemeteries that were dug up to make way for real estate development. Each time she called, it was as if she had just thought of it.
Do you suppose Caller ID was invented by a former reporter to dodge the “enlightenment” of the masses?