If you own a cellphone, I'm sure it has happened at some point and depending on where you live or hangout, maybe a lot.
"Can I use your phone to call my mom...boyfriend...boss...?"
Such a simple request but should you do it?
Well, aside from the most obvious reason, the person taking your phone and bolting like the wind, there are other reasons why it's not wise to loan out your phone to complete strangers.
1. Theft - We'll cover this again because this should be your first and foremost concern. But it really depends on the type of phone you have. If you have a brand new iPhone or Galaxy, you're gonna protect that phone like a newborn baby. If you have an old flip phone or prepaid cell phone, you may be a bit more lenient on things. Once you hand your phone over, they can turn around and run, maybe kick you in the legs to get a head start. Maybe they'll walk a few steps away for privacy and when your distracted by something, they run off. Theft alone should be the only reason you don't lend your phone! With nearly everything in your life tied to email or an app, losing your phone or having or stolen is a real pain in the ass.
2. Breakage - Maybe they or you are clumsy and drop the phone. Do you think they'll offer to pay for it if they drop it?
3. Callbacks - This is the most annoying side affect of letting people use your phone. At 2 in the morning you'll get a call and you'll be thinking the worst like a family member in the hoapital and it's some angry person yelling "put Jose on the phone. He called from this number. Put his ass on the phone!" They say they're calling their mom but you have no idea who they're really calling. People who ask to use other people's phones generally don't have any phone number so people they call are likely to assume your number is their number.
4. Unnecessary browsing - Unless your looking squarely at the screen, you won't know if they're browsing your personal files. There are apps can can clone your phone, upload information. This should be fairly obvious but it just takes a moment of inattention on your part for them to get the info they want.
5. Criminal activity - Again, you never know who they're really calling. They could be using your phone as a burner to commit a crime. When your number is traced, you're going to have a bad day.
Okay, so we covered why you shouldn't loan out your phone. But maybe there are times you want to help. If they need police or an ambulance, you can certainly call them yourself.
You could offer to let them talk on speaker phone while you hold the phone.
There are old fashioned telephone handsets that plug into the headset jack. Like the payphone handsets. You can dial the number and they can talk with the handset.
Then of course you can blatantly say no or use the old standbys.
"My battery is almost dead"
"I'm out of minutes"
"It's disconnected. I use it for music"
"I have no signal"
"I don't have a phone"
How do you deal with strangers asking to use your phone? Please comment below!
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