Personal Calls

Occasionally you'll have to call your health insurance or credit card company during the work day. It's almost always about disputing a charge or trying to the insurance company to send a check. If you own a car, you can go sit in the driver's seat and give everyone in your office the false impression that you're conducting a telephone interview for a new job. But if you don't have a car, your options are to make the call from some semi-private spot in your office and have co-workers overhear, or you can walk up and down the street while talking. Both present problems, but I prefer to walk around outside with my insurance or credit card in my hand. Basically, I prefer to have strangers know the details of my problems with the insurance company. The biggest fear while doing this is that someone on the street will hear and memorize your personal information, which is why you have to walk really fast when offering your social security or credit card number over the phone -- it makes it that much tougher for people to follow you writing down your info.