Aural fixation

>> Hanging out with a scanner addict

By ALESSIA LONGO

Do you like to gossip? Do you badmouth your friends when you're on the telephone? Do you enjoy phone sex?

Meet Nick. He's a self-proclaimed scanner addict who spends a lot of time with his toy. This electronic device--which you can pick up at any Radio Shack--provides Nick with "endless hours of listening pleasure." Some may think their conversations on portable and cellular phones are private, but Nick knows better.

On a recent visit to Nick's place, I decided to tempt fate and see what the telephone gods had in store for a couple of snoops. At first it seemed boring, what with all the static and having to change the channels all the time. That is until we landed on what makes Nick tick: some heavy breathing and moaning. Somebody was getting off on dirty talk and we heard every lurid detail.

"Ooooh, baby. There are four guys on top of me and they're making me hot," she said while her male partner was heard panting on the line. "I love to give blowjobs. I love big strong men. Did you cum yet?"

We waited in silence. Not a peep from him. It all ended with a thank you and a swift goodbye. As the line went dead, we pondered the question: was that a phone sex line or do these people actually know each other?

Lucky numbers

Nick explains that scanners can't tell you who you're listening to and you can't choose your victims. It's basically a game of chance. "The best part about it is that you never know who you're going to catch," Nick says of their mystique. "You usually pick up people from your neighbourhood and the fun is trying to figure out if you know the person."

Though expensive--scanner prices range from $250 to $400, with higher prices bringing conversations from greater distances--Nick says it's worth it. And he's not too worried about the legal issues that some might consider inevitable. While it's legal to tap into public airwaves like the police dispatch, it is illegal to listen in on private conversations. But if you're spying on your neighbours, don't worry about the police catching you--they concede it's impossible to prove.

Nick begins to fiddle with the device again, hoping for a catch. A half hour later, we had one. And this time, it was heartbreak time. "Please, honey, I need you," said the distressed woman on the line, clearly in tears. "All I want is to be with you and take care of you." He

wasn't hearing anything of it: "No, I can't take it anymore. You're a crazy, sick girl and I can't handle it. You're driving me nuts, just stay away from me!" Her pleading continued for a while, insisting that she had to go over to his house and take care of him. He would hear nothing of it, hanging up on her.

Nick doesn't seem to have any problems living vicariously through other people's conversations. And according to him, he's not alone. "I know of some people who are really hooked on scanners. It's to the point that they'll stay up all night and miss work the next day, just because they got a juicy conversation like phone sex or fighting couples!" zxyxzxx

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