Annoyance Bureau!

Ever since we moved into our new home and had to change the number, something weird has been going on. About every other day my phone rings and on the other end is a random beep. Although frustrating at first, it has since gotten out of control. Usually, I just hang up, but then it started calling me somewhere between five or six times in less than a half an hour. Then I really reached my point when my phone rang at 2:00 in the morning. After the third time of hanging up I had to just take my phone off the hook. So the next morning I called my local phone provider and complained about my problem. Do you know what they told me? They told me they had an annoyance bureau that I could contact. All I had to do is when the beep rings me I *57 and it will trace the call to the bureau. Then they call the company and request that they take my number off their list. What a novel concept. I have been obsessed with the idea ever since (hence my reason for blogging it). I mean really think of all the things in your life that you wish you could call an annoyance bureau for.
When the five dogs surrounding our house bark at 1:oo in the morning-*57 them.
When our neighbor decides to mow his lawn at 11:00 at night-*57 him.
When our neighbors choose to leave every light on in their house all night long-*57 them.
When you get the clerk in the grocery store who is both slow and chatty-*57 her.
When your kids ask you a question and then don't actually listen to the answer so they ask the question again two seconds later-*57 them.
When your kids choose to have a meltdown at the most inopportune moment-*57 them.
When your kids sneak a box of cheez it's upstairs and eat the whole box five minutes before dinner-*57 them.
Actually, I've been toying with the idea of starting a fad. Instead of the action of putting up your hand and saying "Talk to the Hand", next time my kids do something outrageous I'm going to pull out my pretend hand phone and start dialing *57. Or I might get the term going around "Don't make me *57 you"! I think I'll try these out for awhile and I'll let you know which one seems to get the best reaction.
So, as you can see there are many uses for an annoyance bureau. It did make me wonder what other kind of bureaus do these companies have they are not telling us about. Because it seems like whenever I call a company I get the "I don't really know what I'm doing, so I will probably be of no help to you" bureau!