DEAR ABBY: I have a telephone answering machine. It is very handy, but sometimes it's a source of great frustration when someone dials a wrong number and leaves a message.
For example, the following message was left on my machine: "Your daughter, Judy, was in a minor automobile accident. P1ease pick her up at the suburban police station."
Well, I do not have a daughter named Judy, so I called the suburban police station and suggested that they call Judy's parents and dial carefully next time.
Last week, an elderly woman left the following message: "Doctor, I'm sorry I have to cancel my appointment ..." Then she went on and on, describing all her symptoms and medications until my entire tape ran out.
I also got this message from a young man in a hurry: "Hi, Joe, dis is Pete. We're gonna have football practice at Baldwin Park. Call da udder guys and tell em!"
Last night I received the following message: "Hi, Gloria! We're leaving right now. Please be ready for a change, OK?" Bang! (I hope Gloria was ready for a change.)
Abby, inform your readers that before they leave a message on an answering machine, they should be sure they dialed the right number. -- WRONG GUY IN CLEVELAND
DEAR WRONG GUY: Thanks for reminding all the folks out there to dial very carefully.