From the 'Be Careful what You Say' File

I often write about keeping as low a profile as possible. Of course you want to be careful about the things that you say to others (which can be misconstrued or taken out of context), what you say to someone which can be overheard by others, especially regarding personal information (which can provide too much information about you, be taken out of context, or similarly, be misconstrued) and what you say around your kids (which can be repeated to the wrong people or out of context...or in context but that would send the person being told the story running for help). Anyway, this line of thought came about because of this article on Consumerist. The person making the call should have noted that a) such a question would sound suspicious without a plausible explanation, b) may have been recorded and the store could have caller ID, c) due to the nature of our society these days people are much more likely to both be suspicious and report odd behaviour to the police, and d) if they do need to remove a blood stain, say resulting from a homicide, do they really think they will get good information from a general worker at Home Depot?...a nice anonymous internet search may have produced better results.