Phone duty in Newport

Phone duty. Ever wonder about the people who call in?

This afternoon a man called up inquiring about a couple of properties listed on Ocean Ave in Newport. He introduced himself & said he was here on vacation from D.C. and just driving around. Looking at houses, had a few questions...which of course were about the usual suspects, Sandcastle and Wrentham House. Anyhow, we chatted a little, and he suddenly interrupted whatever it was we were talking about and said, "Excuse me, but can I ask you a serious question?". Well OK, sure. "Well then," he continued, "do you have alligators here in RI?"

I assured him that we didn't.

"Oh, but I think you do," he pressed on, "because there's a huge alligator right here in the road in front of me - Jeez, it must be 15 or 16 ft long...! Wait, now it's sliding into the Cove...there it goes!"

I was speechless. Yet right up until then he'd sounded so...normal. Who was he? For that matter, who are any of these people we talk to? Was this guy some kind of nut case? An urban myth disinformation terrorist? An actual eyewitness to a 15 foot alligator roaming up and down Ocean Drive? Do you know how BIG a 15 foot alligator is? That's practically Guiness Book of World Records material - I don't think they even get that big in the jungles of South America, that's huge.

So. That was my day. How was YOUR last phone shift?