Bomb Threat

Have you ever had a job where you had a bomb threat script posted by the phone? I did once, several years ago, when everyone who worked in my department took turns spelling the company switchboard operator during lunch hour and breaks.

I mention this because my son Eric got sent home from school early yesterday due to a bomb threat. I haven't thought about it in years, but I remember the script required the person answering the phone to keep the caller on the line as long as possible, ask lots of detailed questions about the location and makeup of the bomb, and take copious notes about the call: traffic or other background noises; sounds on the line; whether the caller had a disguised voice; whether the caller sounded nervous, angry, polite, etc.

And I remember being struck by the "polite" bit. I've never taken such a call myself, but do they ever ring up and say, "Ah yes, good morning, I'd like to place a bomb threat, please?"

Or maybe they're only polite in comparison to a high school office administrator, who I imagine would just grunt, then put the caller on hold for twenty minutes in order to rummage through a desk drawer for the script, then go for a quick ciggy before the smoking area gets reduced to rubble.

Which it wasn't, incidentally. Eric went back to school today, as did whoever called in the threat, I'll bet. It's too cold out to play hooky.