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Disastrous Butt Dial Sends SWAT Team to a Middle School

by Leila Brillson on January 5, 2011 at 01:30 PM

pocket dialingIn the age of cell phone mishaps, we often find ourselves checking our phones after we hang up to make sure we actually disconnected -- lest the person on the other end hear the whining we do about them afterward. In fact, each one of us has a horror story from before the age of screen unlocks, like pocket-dialing a parent during intimate moments (or worse: vice-versa). But touchscreens, elaborate swiping unlocks and screen time-outs have seriously diminished these occurrences -- or have made them so difficult that, when they do happen, it's near catastrophic.

In Chicago suburb Winnetka, a woman received a phone call from her husband in which he, an area school teacher, sounded like he was being held hostage. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the outer Chicago area, Winnetka's a quiet suburb with nice lawns and white fences.) The muffled, loud noises alarmed the wife, who then alerted authorities. About 30 armed policemen were sent into the school, where they scoured the premises for the kidnappers over the course of three hours. The cause of the call (which apparently had the power to mobilize the entire Winnetka police force) was a butt dial, which was compounded by the fact that the poor guy was driving and listening to rap music with "gangster-like lyrics." The wife thought all those sick beats (and butt rustling) were the sound of the man being held hostage, and she immediately called the police.

Though the wife may have been a little alarmist, it's surprising that so many policemen reacted to hearsay from a phone call. Sure, we guess kids could have been involved, but hostage-taking and loud music, we would imagine, sound rather different -- even when obscured by a butt. But now, just think: as bad as dialing someone during nookie may be, at least you didn't get a SWAT team called on you.

Tags: ButtDial, cellphones, lolz, PocketDial, top

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