Don't answer that.

Victor came in this morning and very seriously informed me that he had received a text message warning him not to answer any strange phone calls, especially if the number started with 0-9-1.

"The people who answer these calls have died." he said.

"The phone rang. They answered it, and they dropped dead?" I ask.

"Yes," he confirms.

"That's just silly superstition," I demur. But he is serious. I decide to be serious, too. I don't know this culture. And I would not want to insult Victor by pooh-poohing his beliefs. Besides... what do I know? Maybe it's true.

"Does this happen in the United States?" Victor wants to know.

"Ummmm... No. But they did make a horror movie about just such a thing. Maybe the movie was based on a true story."

Based on a true story?

Later in the morning, while sitting at a dead stop in traffic, I ask Ade if he had heard the story.

He chuckled loudly. "Yes, I heard it last night. My mother called me," he says.

"Your mother called! To warn you?"

"Yes!" he chuckles again. I am glad to hear he thinks it's funny, like I do.

It's an urban myth, of course. Just like our stories about alligators in the sewer and deep-fried chicken heads in McDonald's happy meals. An article in the Los Angeles Times ("How Urban Myths Reveal Society's Fears" November 12, 1995) about the origins of urban myth says this:

"...In these stories, anything can happen not because the world is a magical place rich with wonder—as in folk tales of yore—but because our world is so utterly terrifying."

So urban legends reflect our deepest fears. This legend seems to express fear of death (which is universal, of course), but Nigerians have the added burden of little or no access to modern healthcare. So all deaths seem mysterious. Dying from a phone call seems just as plausible as dying from an undiscovered cancer or untreated parasite. If you don't know why something is happening in a world of cause and effect, then why not blame it on a phone call ... or a black cat or an evil eye.

This type of reasoning has disappeared in the Western world thanks to science, research, and (comparatively) easy access to modern healthcare. But Africa (poor Africa) does not have the luxury of these things. They are too busy struggling for today's bread.

So thank your lucky stars if you are on a first-name basis with your family doctor.

And just to be safe ... just in case ... better not answer any strange phone calls today.

You never know.