How I Handle Anonymous Calls

The last two days, I received anonymous calls (again). Police say that such calls may represent intimidation. Or they may not. Supposing that this was intimidation, one would then ask what one might have done in the last, say, three days to invite it (intimidation, in my experience, follows very close on what triggered it). Here's how I handle anonymous calls:

• Call them back, if there is a number. Also do a quick check. Sometimes one finds things out. In the present case I found that this number has given people a 98.5% negative experience.
• Now and then, with silent calls, I answer with silence, and check the duration of the call. This may reveal whether there's a real person behind it. In my case, mostly yes.
• I jot down a list of calls with any other out-of-the-ordinary events around the same time. This may not prove anything, but it may be quite revealing or suggestive. See for example Colonel in the List.
• It is interesting that such lists may suggest connections between people one would not have thought.

OBSERVATION: In my own case, unfortunately, clusters of anonymous calls have sometimes coincided with sabotage to my vehicles or property. And sometimes, too, there may be more happy reasons for anonymous calls. Some were (I think) people who wanted to hear the pastor's voice and feel reassured -- say, at three in the morning!