It all began with an innocent joke.
Anita Barnes was a junior at George Washington University when she and her roommate, Fran, decided to play a phone prank on a friend from class. This was 1966, a time when phone calls still retained some of their mystery: You couldn’t know who was calling — and certainly not why — unless you picked up.
For several days, Anita and Fran played their little game — dialing, giggling and hanging up before the voice on the other end had a chance to say anything.
But Anita and Fran had made a mistake: They had misremembered their classmate’s number. They were, in fact, calling a stranger.
One day, the stranger picked up and said, “Hello” before they even had a chance to giggle.
The joke was over. The two women decided they had to call back and apologize. It was a very long apology — but a very effective one. After two hours of talking, Anita and the stranger had plans for a dinner date.
The rest is history!
source: Washington Post