[July 25, 2011] Memphis mayor A C Wharton's old cell phone number causes misery for soldier Tweet Jul 24, 2011 (The Commercial Appeal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Craig McComsey and A C Wharton couldn't be more different. The wiry, silver-haired mayor is never caught without a power tie around his neck. McComsey, a 22-year-old sergeant in the National Guard, prefers his dog tags. They have never met. But they do have one key thing in common: a cell phone number. McComsey returned to his native Memphis in March 2010 after a 12-month deployment in Iraq and his first order of business was to get a new cell phone. When the AT&T salesman told him he could pick the last four digits of his phone number, McComsey knew exactly what they would be. Already nostalgic for his brothers in arms overseas, he chose the numbers 0089, after "Alamo 89," his Army National Guard call sign. A week after the phone was activated, the first unexpected call came in. "Hello, may I speak with Mayor Wharton, please?" McComsey politely told the unidentified caller he had the wrong number, and laughed off the coincidence. A few days later, another call came in for Mayor Wharton, this time from state Rep. Scotty Campbell, R-Mountain City. "That's when I realized there was definitely something going on," McComsey said. "I knew I had to have the mayor's old cell phone number." McComsey said he fields at least two of the mayor's phone calls per week, not including text messages that come in at all hours of the night. "People text me, telling me good luck with something or they'll say, 'I'll be at the meeting in 15 minutes, sorry I am running late!'" "So that's why so many people tell me they sent me messages I never got!" the mayor said, laughing when he was told about the mix-up. Wharton explained that the phone number was linked to his old county cell phone from his time as the Shelby County mayor. "I thought they would have killed that number, I had no idea they would have reassigned it that rapidly," Wharton said. McComsey now feels a strong connection between himself and the mayor, since he always has an idea of what Wharton's week looks like. Several months ago, he knew that someone close to the mayor had passed away because there were messages of condolence and details for funeral arrangements. He recently got a text message from a man named Kenneth Robinson, who quickly clarified that he was not the same Kenneth Robinson running against him for mayor. "I think the funniest ones are the party invitations," McComsey said. "Black tie, free drinks, free food along with an address and time. It's tempting. I want to go and see who's running my city." McComsey knows to expect extra calls during the upcoming elections, and says the surge picks up whenever something controversial is going on. "I wish I could forward some of my present calls to him, about the animal shelter and the schools and the angry parents," Wharton said. McComsey said he has no plan to switch his phone number. "It's pretty cool, actually. I feel like if something was really bugging me about this city, I'd easily be able to talk to someone about it." McComsey's friends told him he narrowly missed bumping into the mayor at The Half Shell one night, but he stepped outside to take a phone call and when he came back, Wharton had left. "If I ever do get to meet the mayor, I'd love to joke with him about all this, and fill him in on what he's been missing." On Friday, Wharton extended an invitation for the young man to drop by his office, and said he'd even have a special gift for him "in consideration for all the misery he's gone through. I get crazy calls sometimes." "Actually," Wharton joked, "I may just put him on payroll if he can handle some of the calls that come in. I'll make him the official deputy mayor." To see more of The Commercial Appeal or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.commercialappeal.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]