867-5309 For Sale!
The guy who thought it was a good idea to get the eponymous number from Tommy Tutone's tuberculosis-for-the-ears (it's catchy and uncomfortable) 867-5309/Jenny , has decided to sell that number.
The number, 201-867-5309, belongs to Spencer Potter, a disc jockey and to his business, A Blast Entertainment. At 28, after five years with the number, Potter has decided to sell the number, the business, move to New York and go backpacking in Europe for two months. Quarterlife crisis!
Potter bought the number on a lark five years ago but it has taken a daily toll. According to the Times, "it was something of a disaster. Almost as soon as he plugged the phone in, it began ringing off the wall.
...[H]e still gets about 30 calls a day: from drunks at bars, from the guy at the auto body shop in Odessa, Tex.; from Alyssa, 15, and her mom, Janice, on their way back from cheerleading practice in Morris County; from hapless collection agencies unlikely to ever get their money; from Leah, 13, in North Bergen whose friend Tyler told her to call; from bored cold callers who figure, why not?"
According to the eBay ad, however, Potter "Receives between 8,000-10,000 Calls Per Year!!" Yippee! That's a good thing! He makes no mention of Alyssa or Janice or Leah, perhaps most annoyingly, collection agencies. You couldn't pay me $1,500 to take that number. It's like The Pearl but on Vonage.