Ok, it's slow around here on the weekends, so I will pose my dilemma, to keep some of us entertained.

A few weeks ago, a guy I've known for quite a while (from out of town) called me & left a friendly message on my machine (hey! how ya doin'? haven't spoken w/ you for a while! call me back & we'll catch up!). I took a few days to calll him back, because, frankly, I don't like him all that much. We have a lot in common (music, we're both drummers), but he talks on & on & on. He'll ask me questions and seem like he's interested, but he's so high energy, it's hard for me to get many words in, and he'll just plow over whatever I'm saying and go on to the next subject. The phone call wasn't torture, as he has some interesting things to say, but still, it would have been nice had it been a 2-sided conversation.

So. I get my phone bill. We (HE!) had talked for almost an hour & a half. My bill for that conversation alone was almost $29. Holy moly. I'm not rich, and this is an expenditure I can't really afford.

What do you think?

C'mon, dude, did he reach down the phone and hold a gun to your head? If he calls again, and you're not interested in talking, don't pick up, or be polite for two minutes and say, look, I gotta go, or if he seems hard to get off the phone politely say 'hey, last time I let you go til you ran down it was like thirty bucks, just can't drop that kind of coin on you right now. Send me an email or something.'

people still pay for long distance?

also, you are poor. i spill more than that in drinks.

Or tell him you were just on your way out the door.

But, yeah, that call is done and over.

Frankly if someone called me and then later asked me to foot their phone bill, I'd laugh hysterically...zero chance of forking over cash for that.

On the other hand, I can't imagine someone calling again after you call and ask for phone money. So, if that's what you're after and don't have the nerve to tell him so I guess it would probably work.

I mean, c'mon, maybe he did do more of the talking, but he called and would have paid had you talked then. You choose to call back and could have hung up at any moment. You chose to hang out on the phone with him. I can't at all see a justification for him to actually give you any money. But, if he does, could you send his number my way? I've been looking for a few good marks.

Sounds like somebody needs to increase the frequency of their Dirt Rag free-lancing.

Yeah, then I could afford three of those conversations!

Whoa, are you serious?! You made the call, therefore you foot the bill.

When you take women out, do you ask them to pay the bill if the date goes over 25 bucks?

Sure, if she eats 95% of the food available.

I voted 'other'

have no regrets. learn from it, and live looking forward.

Other. Grow a backbone and learn how to end a call when you need to.

"Let it go, never speak to him again. No great loss. If he ever calls again, THEN explain why you don't like him."

I guess I should have voted for this one. I didn't see in your first post that "you don't like him much at all"

I'd let it go and just avoid him. Chances are he is not going to be convinced he did anything that warrants footing half the bill.

this thread makes me sad

if you cant afford 29 dollars for a phone bill you should really get a second job

That's for the one call. Total bill is $56.22.

winner.

Why would you talk to someone you don't like for 90 minutes?

If you cal him back, it's just going to cost you more.

my assessment stands.

Do you work in a soup kitchen?

T, this is Finchie we're talking about here.

Ooooh...ouch!

Gah!

Close. I make more than FT, but not by much.

well the price was good
most of the time when i pay for a woman to talk to me its at least 1.99 a minute

the problem is that you took way too long getting off

skip the "what are you wearing" stuff... that's where they get you
skip straight to how good it feels in your mouth ... yada yada yada