Seriously. I know I’ve mentioned in the past that I just hate being on the phone in general. And I envy the techs who have receptionists, or a clientele who “gets” — and appreciates — an “I don’t answer the phone while I’m with a client” policy.

But this morning I had five calls from the same phone number not five minutes apart. No. I didn’t answer any of them. I was up to my elbows in glitter and acrylic and not at a good point in my client’s visit to break away to answer a phone call that I already had a suspicious feeling about when I saw the number on the Caller ID.

So I declined the call and sent it to voicemail, hoping that it was — indeed — a potential client who would leave a message I would be able to return in about 45 minutes, not — as suspected — a solicitor calling to convince me to sign up for something I didn’t ask for, don’t need, and can’t afford.

I returned my attention to my client and we resumed the conversation with nary a pause.

Then the phone rang again — same number. Hmmm. I declined the call again, this time without even breaking conversation or pausing in my application. Sometimes people call back immediately because they decide to leave a message after all.

A few moments later, the phone rings again. Yup, same number.

It’s an out-of-area number. It’s not in my contacts and they haven’t left a message or resorted to texting. There is very little chance that it’s my mother or the BF calling from an unknown phone to let me know that we’ve either won the lottery or that I need to get to the hospital. Even if it was, they both know to leave me a message instead of repeatedly calling back.

Even my client, at this point, is quick to point out that the person who keeps calling needs to leave a message; actually, my adorable client who must be nearing her sixties, wrinkled up her face in annoyance and said, “Why don’t they just text?” Which I found to be a true testimony to the fact that texting is the way we do things these days.

I finally turned down the ringer volume, removed my Bluetooth headset, and set the phone to the side where I could still see it light up if there was another in-coming call — just in case someone else called. And we went on with our time together in peace.

I received five calls from the same number within a half-hour but not a single voicemail.

I’m betting that this was a solicitation call. Do people really think that just calling back over and over again is going to get them anywhere? Even if it turned out that this was someone who would have been a client, I’m thinking it’s not going to work out. I don’t respond well to demanding behavior.