It didn’t affect me very much when Minnesota passed the hands-free law last month.

I’ve never been one to text and drive. In fact, I use a flip-phone, so texting is barely possible even when I’m sitting at home because of the small keys.

I’ve never turned on the ring tone for texts, so if someone texts me when I’m driving, I don’t even know about it until I reach my destination. (My phone is usually in my pocket while I’m driving.) But it rings when someone calls me.

As a reporter, I often call people regarding articles I’m writing. It could be a city or county staff member, a high school coach, a business owner or anyone with a story. Sometimes I have to leave voicemail messages because there’s no answer. When they call back, I make it a point to take the call because I’m working on a deadline.

If I get a call while I’m driving I pull over. I’ve always done it that way, even before the hands-free law went into effect. It’s safer, especially if I have to take notes during the call. And, it’s easier to hear without the noisy motor in my car.

Last week, I made four important calls to people for articles I planned to write. I had to leave messages for each one, which was pretty annoying considering three of the four asked me to call them.

But I know people are busy, so I expected a call back sooner or later.

I had to cover a sports event one afternoon last week in Big Lake. As I was driving along Hwy. 10 in Clear Lake, my phone rang. It took a moment for me to find a place to pull over, but I was able to answer the call before the phone stopped ringing.

I was hoping it was one of my callbacks.

It wasn’t.

“Hi this is Amy,” the recording said. “We’ve been trying to reach you regarding your student loan...”

I hung up. I don’t have a student loan. I’ve never had a student loan.

I got back on the road and started driving again. About 15 minutes later the phone rang again. I pulled over, again.

“This is an urgent call about your vehicle’s warranty,” the voice said.

I hung up again. My car is 12 years old. I bought it used with no warranty.

When I finally reached the school and parked, my phone rang again. This time it was one of the people I had called. I did a phone interview and got enough for an article. One down, three to go.

The next day, two of the three remaining people called me back. I was home at the time, so I could carry on a conversation without any difficulty. I got my stories.

Then I had to drive to a store in Monticello. On the way the phone rang. I pulled over.

It was an “urgent” call about helping me get rid of my credit card debt. I didn’t have any credit card debt. My balance was zero because I had made a payment two days earlier.

I hung up.

Finally that afternoon I got my last callback and got the information I needed for my last article. After that I didn’t worry about pulling over for any calls.

Since then, I’ve had at least a half dozen “phony” calls for home improvements, heating duct cleaning (I have baseboard heating), a reverse mortgage and cremation services. One recorded call said I even won a cruise. 

I didn’t stay on the line long enough to find out where the cruise went.

I’m guessing it was a phony call, too.