True story: a misdialed phone number last week led to angry words which escalated to an armed battle, I'm told by reader Sunita Chau.

It all started when a man in his early 20s accidentally phoned a man of the same age. Nasty text messages grew into a row in a car park, and then a gunfight. Police jailed one man and sent the other to hospital in a "serious condition."

The incident happened a few days ago in the US state of Georgia, but similar trivial errors have escalated to shootouts in countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

These incidents follow similar patterns. A: "Hi, can I speak to Susy?" B: "You got the wrong number,dude." A slams down the phone. B uses caller ID to dial A. B: "Hey. Don't slam the phone down on me, you rude moron."

B slams the phone down on A, who dials B again. A: "You calling me a rude moron? I should kick your butt."

B: "Oh yeah?" A: "Oh yeah." B: "OH YEAH?" A: "OH YEAH." An hour later, the city is littered with bodies.

If only people listened to King Solomon, who 2,000 years ago anticipated misdialed phone calls, writing: "A soft answer turneth away wrath."

Try answering thus: "This is a recording. You have reached Pay- Per-Second Phone Services. You will be charged our HK$200 minimum fee for this call, plus HK$10 per second."

They will slam down that phone and never dial your number again.

One reader got vast numbers of voicemail messages meant for a guy called Steven. She left a recording on her phone saying: "If you are looking for Steven, this is not the right number." Now she gets even more voicemails, from her friends and family: "So, who's Steven?" Everyone thinks she has a secret boyfriend.

She's saving up for a gun.

Most annoying are people who send you unsigned text messages. I had an exchange which went like this. HIM: "Meet you at 4.30 by the clock." ME: "Who are you?" HIM: "This is Jamie." ME: "You got the wrong number." HIM: "Oops. Sorry, dude." ME: "Stop already. It costs me money every time you send me a text." HIM: "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to apologize." ME: "Okay. Shut up already." HIM: "Okay! I'm shutting up!" ME: "SHUT UP." HIM: "I HAVE shut up." ME: "No you haven't." HIM: "Yes I have." ME: "NO YOU HAVEN'T." HIM: "YES I HAVE."

I showed this conversation to a friend, telling her this was clear, black and white proof the world contains idiots. She read it through and said: "No, this is clear, black and white proof the world contains males."

What an insult. After brooding for a while, I sent her a text telling her to meet me at the car park at midnight with a weapon of her choice.

I sent it to the right number, I think.

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