Victims of the drunk dial, meet your savior

Engineering sophomore Bill Breedlove "drunk dials" an ex-girlfriend who he dated for 11 days in the eighth grade nearly every weekend.

Breedlove is one of many at Penn -- and across the country -- who have confessed to making intoxicated phone calls.

According to a recent survey by Virgin Mobile, 95 percent of a 409 person sample group admitted to making drunken phone calls. Of those, 30 percent were to ex-partners, 19 percent to current partners, and 36 percent to others, including bosses.

The phone company now offers a service to prevent potential drunk-dialing catastrophes.

For a 25 cent fee, Virgin Mobile customers can dial 333 plus a phone number they don't want to call, and Virgin Mobile will stop all calls to that number until six the next morning.

"That's genius," Breedlove said. "It could really save a lot of trouble for a lot of people."

However, Breedlove added that he would not switch services for it and would not use it unless it was free.

"I think if you really don't want to call someone, you're not going to," College sophomore Jamie Leithead said.

However, Leithead said she does have some friends who she would suggest the service to.

Leithead has received several phone calls from guys drunkenly professing their love for her.

"I usually laugh, but I would never bring it up again," Leithead said.

College freshman Dave Johnson said he thinks the service is unnecessary and won't become overly popular. Nonetheless, Johnson said it may be a viable solution "if someone has a chronic problem with" drunk dialing.

"My friends from home hear more from me at 2:30 [a.m.] than any other time," said College sophomore Jordan Danly, who estimated she makes 15 drunken calls per weekend.

"It's a good idea, but it takes away all the fun," Danly said of Virgin Mobile's new service. "I don't think it's embarrassing if you make a phone call or two."

Although drunk dialing is generally harmless, it has led to awkward or embarrassing situations for other Penn students.

Breedlove once called a friend's cell phone and left a message that was "slightly vulgar in nature" saying that he had been partying all night.

He later discovered that his friend had just gotten a new cell phone and given the old one to his mom who received the message instead.

"He just laughed about it," Breedlove said of his friend's reaction.

Wharton freshman Jimmy Wang accidentally called his aunt at 1:30 a.m. while walking back from a fraternity party during New Student Orientation.

"She asked me why the hell I was calling," said Wang, who defended himself by telling her that he just wanted to talk to her.

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