Winnie, Bold, Wacky Operator who brought down the Panty Man

Winnie

She brought down the Panty Man

I worked at the telephone company for 31 years. I started out in the Traffic Department, which was Operator Services. While working as an operator and years later as an instructor in that department, I saw many sights, learned many things, experienced the good times and the bad times with a diverse group of people.

One of the wackiest people I have ever known, worked with me when I was an Information Operator. Her name was Winnie. She was so cute. She had great big dimples on each cheek and her eyes sparkled with mischief. My spirits were always lifted when I walked in to work and saw Winnie. Even her hair was wacky. It was the curliest hair I had ever seen. The curls were out of control, they pointed in every direction and seemed to dance and move about as Winnie told her latest story of wackiness. 

Winnie would get so excited as she told of her latest adventure with hand gestures and her bouncing hair. Spending time with her was better than going to the circus.

From time to time we would get callers on our lines who would say inappropriate things. These callers were men who were complete perverts. Many times they asked for dates, other times they said vile, disgusting things, sometimes they were a bit more subtle. They always called continuously and we knew their voices as soon as they began to speak.

There came a time when we began to get calls from the same man late at night. It used to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck when I heard his voice and his words. We were all sickened by this guy even though he did not use nasty language, he just sounded eerie and very perverted to me. One day our manager called us into a meeting when we arrived for the evening shift. This was the shift that got the calls from this new sicko. They had devised a plan to catch this man. At that time there was no sophisticated caller ID service, even at the telephone company. There was an ability to trace calls and determine the location where they originated, but this required the conversation to last a certain standard amount of time (I believe it was 10 minutes, which is a long time to hold someone on the line).

We were so happy that this was the night we were going to catch the latest perverted caller. His calls had become more frequent and more sick. We had nicknamed him the Panty Man.  All of the operators on the evening shift recognized him the minute he spoke. He had a unique voice and he always started his conversation with this question: “What color panties are you wearing?”

Until now we were advised to hang up as soon as we realized it was him. So we did. However this night they wanted us to  hold him on the line and to raise our hand when we were certain we had him. A supervisor would come to our side and time the call so that we did not release him too soon to get a clear trace.All of the operators on duty and in that meeting were filled with anxiety, knowing that we would be required to hold him on the line. We were instructed to say anything that would keep him talking. They told us if we felt it necessary we should talk provocative or suggestive, it was imperative that we did not allow him to hangup. 

I hoped upon hope that I would not be the one who got that call from  the Panty Man. I was wrong when I assumed ALL of us were filled with dread at the thought of talking 10 minutes to Panty Man. Winnie was so excited about it and she told everybody she wanted to talk to him. She even said “if you get him, just hang up, because he will call back and eventually I will get him”. Winnie was pure giddy at the thought of getting the opportunity to help catch this pervert.

It worked out perfectly, Winnie was seated right next to me on the switchboard when the call came in from Panty Man. Winnie got the call! She immediately raised her hand as instructed and the supervisor ran to her side, the trace was initiated on the call. This is how it went:

Panty Man: What color panties are you wearing?

Winnie:          What did you say?

Panty Man:  What color panties are you wearing?

Winnie:         I’m not wearing any panties

(I nearly peed my pants when she said that and I could see that it was everything she could do to keep from laughing too.)   

---After a brief delay---(I feel certain that poor panty man was shocked at this point)

Panty Man:    No panties, I’d like to see that

Winnie:          You would? Well, I’d like to show you that

(how did she do it, she held a straight face, and continued) 

Panty Man:  How can that be arranged? I really want to see you with no panties.

Winnie:         You want to arrange a meeting? That would be great,
but I’m married, I would have to come to your house, is that ok? Tell me how to get there.

Panty Man:   (hesitated for a minute or so) Let me figure this out. 
Are you sure you aren't wearing panties? I think that sounds wonderful

Winnie:    You think that sounds wonderful, you would know just how wonderful if you saw it, 
I know you want to see it. If you will tell me where you live.
I can come by after work and show it to you. Okay? I can come by tonight.

Panty Man:  (silent for a minute or so) I really want to, but I can’t tell 

you where I live. Can I meet you somewhere because I would like that...

They bantered back and forth for the full 10 minutes and Winnie smiled with those great big dimples the entire time. I was a nervous wreck and she was as cool as a glass of iced tea.

Winnie kept him on the line for the full time needed and an arrest was made that evening. She was commended by the supervisor and by all of us. I know that I could never have done that. Winnie told me that was the most fun she had in a long time. She absolutely loved it.

The story of the arrest was on the news and we got to see his face. There was a big write up in the Mobile newspaper and everyone read all about it.

The Panty Man was caucasian, 45 years old, had never married and  he had lived
with his parents his whole life. He was a high school dropout and he worked at a
construction site only a couple of miles from our office building on North Franklin Street.

He was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in jail. He looked very nerdy and
poorly groomed in his arrest photo. I studied that photo and I felt he had the face of a true
pervert.

This was only one of many creepy callers we had over the years but when there was an
arrest made, the calls stopped temporarily until they either forgot the consequences or
they no longer feared them. Then a new pervert would begin calling.

I will never forget him and I will always remember the night Winnie brought down the Panty Man.