Girl Give me Phone Number, but Forgets Area Code.

March 5, 2009 8:42 PM

Amazing girl I meet at a show gives me her phone number, but forgets to give me the area code. Main problem: I barely know anything about her - not even her name. How can I get in touch?

At a hip-hop show, drinking a little bit, meet girl on dancefloor, we enjoy ourselves immensely (ahem). Show ends, after some light chit-chat I head out (a couple of her friends seemed protective and annoyed at me...there seemed to be no opportunity to pursue our connection any further), and to my surprise, she chases me down (a couple blocks later), catches up with me. She gives me her number. I tell her I'll call her soon. Big Problem: She forgot to give me her area code. Fast forward a few days later, I try the number she gave me with the logical (local) area code, and it isn't her (instead of a girl w/ a Mexican accent, I get a housewife with a husband and kids - funny story). After some time though, I try about a dozen more area codes that are nearby (Northern California), all I get are dial tones and one business office (and a couple pagers, apparently) - none are actually her.

My main thoughts: Either she gave me the wrong 7-digit phone number (incredibly unlikely), or the area code for her phone is from some other part of the country.

Anyone know of a way to get in touch with her? There are no phone books for cell phones I'm sure.

The only information I have about her: She lives in Woodland, CA...which is a smalltown about 10 miles down the road from my college town of Davis. That's all, though.

I'm out of ideas. Anyone else with some?

I've at least learned a lesson - doublecheck to make sure I've got an area code next time...

posted by Risiko to technology (32 answers total)

A quick search indicates the area code should be 530.
posted by odinsdream at 8:45 PM on March 5, 2009

Missed connections on craigslist. Include the last two digits of the number.
posted by gryftir at 8:45 PM on March 5, 2009

Craigslist missed connection might actually be your best bet and I'm not trying to be funny.

You could also Google and see if anything useful comes up. Without the area code, you can't really do one of those reverse phone number look-ups (they don't usually work on cells anyway).

Maybe you'll bump into her again at another show or event?
posted by fructose at 8:47 PM on March 5, 2009

Great minds think alike, gryftir. I shoulda previewed. :-)
posted by fructose at 8:48 PM on March 5, 2009

I don't doubt for a second that you're a hot slab of man-meat, Risiko, but was this young lass perhaps intoxicated or otherwise chemically impaired? Giving an area-codeless number and no name to a random strikes me as the action of someone who is particularly well-irrigated.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:50 PM on March 5, 2009

Call them all- put together a big list, get together with some friends and have a dialing party.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:52 PM on March 5, 2009 [7 favorites]

I'm guessing you tried 530 already.

Is this like a nightclub? Unless someone comes up with a more immediately effective idea, the only thing I can think of at the moment is that you could try going there on the same night next week and hope she's a regular.

When she starts wondering why you haven't called, hopefully it'll dawn on her that she didn't include her area code, and maybe she'll come up with the same plan too. She very well could be a transplant and kept her old number, although in that case she should've known to include the area code.

I admire your persistence though.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 8:53 PM on March 5, 2009

If she did not tell you her name, it is almost certainly a fake number.
posted by The World Famous at 8:58 PM on March 5, 2009

So yes, she was relatively intoxicated. Nevertheless, we danced (etc.) for well over a half-hour or so.

The truth is that I had more fun dancing with her than any other woman for a long while now. I guess I wouldn't sweat it as much if I didn't think as highly of her from our admittedly limited interaction.
posted by Risiko at 8:59 PM on March 5, 2009

Aww, I wasn't trying to get you down dude, just wanted a better idea of the situation. I actually think ThePinkSuperhero's plan sounds like a good one.
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:03 PM on March 5, 2009

The World Famous, reread the OP. Why would she chase him down a few blocks later, only so she could stick him with a fake number?

OK, here's some possibilities: she just moved into the area, and it's a cellphone - therefore, it could be any area code in the US. In fact, my cell's area code "belongs" 8 hours away, and I've lived here 2 years. No need anymore to change it; if I keep the same #, old friends don't need to update their phone books.

If I were you, I wouldn't be deterred by a coupla wrong numbers. It costs so little to try a couple dozen. Really. Le coeur a ses raisons que le raison ne connait pas!
posted by IAmBroom at 9:05 PM on March 5, 2009

Sometimes the first 3 #s of the 7-digit number are used a lot in a certain town. For example, in Brooklyn there are a lot of #s that are 718-332-XXXX, or 718-646-XXXX. So maybe finding the town she lives in from the "332" or "646" part would work, and then call all the area codes in that town.

Also, some cell phone area codes are different than the landlines, did you try calling the # with all possible cell phone area codes too?

Oh good luck!!
posted by KateHasQuestions at 9:15 PM on March 5, 2009

If you go to this website and enter the first three digits of the number in the prefix search field, the results will show you all the potential area codes that go with that exchange. That should limit the number of random numbers you have to try.
posted by phoenixy at 9:16 PM on March 5, 2009 [18 favorites]

IAmBroom, if I understood why men and women do what they do in relating to each other, I would actually be world famous. She didn't tell him her name. Maybe she was absent-minded or drunk.

On the one hand, I am tempted to think this is something that Risiko should just let go of. But then it occurs to me: What if this is the beginning of one of those romantic stories that a couple tells years and years later about the beginning of their relationship?

So count me in with those who think you should try every area code in the U.S. until you find her. Worst-case scenario: You don't find her but you establish yourself as a great hopeless romantic. Then write a song about it.
posted by The World Famous at 9:23 PM on March 5, 2009 [2 favorites]

Just start guessing area codes and dialing, there appears to be less than a day's worth of them.

I hope you have free long distance.
posted by 517 at 9:25 PM on March 5, 2009

If you think she's a Davis student and you're really committed, you should take out an ad in the Aggie and include the place and the last 4 digits of the phone number. She or one of her friends will probably recognize it, and there you go.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 9:29 PM on March 5, 2009

Also, if you do decide to guess and dial, never tell that story. If she asks just shrug your shoulders and say, "Huh, I guess I just randomly miss-dialed, it must have been fate. "
posted by 517 at 9:34 PM on March 5, 2009

Also, if you do decide to guess and dial, never tell that story. If she asks just shrug your shoulders and say, "Huh, I guess I just randomly miss-dialed, it must have been fate. "

You can tell the story - but only if the relationship lasts at least 10 years.
posted by The World Famous at 9:36 PM on March 5, 2009 [2 favorites]

Well, now see you've established a test here. If she's super cool and readsmetafilter, she'll find you with this thread. If she doesn't read metafilter, why bother?
posted by bananafish at 10:05 PM on March 5, 2009 [6 favorites]

First, go with phoenixy's solution - I think that's the most scientific.

Second, well, as long as she's got a fairly local number, and she isn't from the Bay, the only area codes she's likely to be in are 530, 916, and 209. Get some balls and dial those three, I guess.
posted by koeselitz at 10:22 PM on March 5, 2009

I'm gonna try phoenixy's solution tomorrow early evening. Given that I already dialed the majority of those area codes, I'm only giving it a 3% chance of working. But it would be like manna from Heaven if it were to work. I'll post an update on my results anyhow tomorrow.

Anyway, the event was low-key - I'm guessing 80 people tops showed up to an indoor venue. The event was actually run by my campus radio station, of which I am a DJ (newly), so I actually helped set up the show. There will be more shows in the future, so if all else fails, I may yet see her again.
posted by Risiko at 11:36 PM on March 5, 2009

Wait, you're a DJ at the campus radio station that ran the event... Have you thought of mentioning something on-air?
posted by aGee at 12:25 AM on March 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

Mention it on air. And keep mentioning in on air until her or her friends get in touch. Seriously. If you had a real spark and you really want to find her this is the way.
posted by miles1972 at 12:36 AM on March 6, 2009

It really isn't much sweat trying other numbers. If she lives in Woodland, she has a 916 number.
posted by christhelongtimelurker at 1:24 AM on March 6, 2009

I am betting a competent private detective could find her for you.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:54 AM on March 6, 2009

Did she write the number or did you? If it was you, it's more likely to be a transposition error than the wrong area code. I miss KDVS.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:32 AM on March 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

You could also try searching her number on Pipl. It's great at searching (stalking) people.
posted by JimmyJames at 7:41 AM on March 6, 2009

http://www.ucdavis.edu/search/search_people.html You can enter partial phone numbers. You didn't say she is a Davis student, but if she is, you could try that.
posted by fructose at 7:57 AM on March 6, 2009

This sounds a lot like one of the subplots in Puddle Cruiser.
posted by o0dano0o at 9:43 AM on March 6, 2009

Not sure how relevant this is, but in Northern NJ, people's cell phone area codes are not the typical local area codes (N. NJ is generally 201 or 973, but some cell phones are 551). Maybe it similar in that area?
posted by carpyful at 10:56 PM on March 7, 2009

Soooo....update? Did it work??
posted by RobotNinja at 10:25 AM on March 9, 2009

Update: no luck. There's a big sea out there though.
posted by Risiko at 12:48 AM on March 15, 2009