Wrong number: N.S. man takes calls from CBC listeners

A Nova Scotia man who shares most of a phone number with CBC Radio in P.E.I. has been patiently taking calls from the show's listeners for years.

Mark Jackson lives in Port Williams, N.S. His phone number is the same as the Talkback line for Island Morning and Mainstreet P.E.I. only Jackson's number starts with 1-902

Since P.E.I. shares the 902 area code with Nova Scotia, listeners often miss the 1-800, and dial 1-902 instead.

"When I see it come up P.E.I. on my call display, I automatically know now," Jackson told Island Morning's Matt Rainnie.

But he still answers, sometimes as many as 15 calls a day.

"Just dial 1-800, instead of 1-902," he tells them patiently.

An understandable mistake

Sometimes he has a hard time convincing people they've dialled a wrong number, but he also has some very nice chats, he said.

In particular, he remembers a 20 minute conversation with a listener in Alaska.

Jackson said it's an understandable mistake.

"People just get excited about a contest or something, and it's habit, dialling the 902 instead of the 800," he said.

So, a reminder for our listeners:Let Mark Jackson sleep in if he wants to. Talkback is 1-800-680-1898.

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