An elderly Queensland man who invited the internet to celebrate his 79th birthday with him has learned a painful lesson about sharing his phone number with strangers online.
In just a few hours after Jim Blackwell posted a TikTok asking Sunshine Coast locals to swing by his caravan park cabin on March 22 for his birthday, his phone had received upwards of 4000 calls.
The number was a massive leap from the few people he was expecting after he uploaded the video on Wednesday, in which he asked that partygoers call and confirm their attendance.
Within about four hours of the video, Mr Blackwell had about 500 people keen to come along – a capacity that would not only exceed his small barbecue area, but likely drain his bank account given he had promised everyone beer and pizza.
“If anyone’s on the Sunshine Coast on the 22nd of March, I invite you to join me, it’s my birthday, just come and join me, I’ll put some pizza and beer on,” he said in the video.
“I’d love to see as many of you who are in the area, it would be great to catch up my friends.”
By Wednesday evening, Mr Blackwell’s phone had crashed due to the thousands of calls it was receiving simultaneously.
“I had to go into Telstra this morning and get them to put my phone back on. I couldn’t do anything on it, I couldn’t even make a call. It totally collapsed,” he told news.com.au.
Among those to ring through were people from Perth, Tasmania and Adelaide, who had no intention of coming to his party, but just wanted to wish him a happy birthday.
“All I wanted was a few of my followers who I knew were local to come and have a drink, and that’s why I put my number on. But I’ll never do that again,” he said.
With hundreds of people having planned to attend, Mr Blackwell said he had begun to grow concerned he might get in trouble from the police.
“I’ve got a cabin in the caravan park, it’s self contained, and I just thought ‘I’ve got a barbecue area under cover, I’ll just have half a dozen people around’. But I’ve had to tell people I can’t have anyone now, that’s it,” he said.
Mr Blackwell, who has more than 43,000 followers, has now warned others to “never, ever put your number on TikTok”.
After his initial video went viral, he said several pranksters called through pretending to be from the “alcohol ward” and “mental institution”.
At the time, he said the calls had been an enjoyable source of entertainment.
“Good on you people. Keep it coming. At least it’s keeping me occupied,” he said through laughter.
In another video, he apologised to the people whose calls he had missed, conceding the volume had become too big for him to manage.
Those genuinely planning to join him to celebrate his birthday were asked to text instead.
More Coverage
“I’d like to apologise to everyone. I did put my number on to try and get some idea of what I could do on my birthday, and I apologise, there’s quite a few calls that have come in and I’ve been on the phone,” he said.
“I apologise sincerely for not answering. Could you please text me if you’re just ringing up to say you’ll be coming? I’d really love that. I’d love to speak to you, but there’s been quite a few calls.”
With his public birthday plans now officially off, it’s back to the drawing board for Mr Blackwell, who after some reflection, said sharing his number online was a “f***ing stupid thing to do”.
Read related topics:BrisbanencG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7zZqroqeelrlwvdSenKernJa7pXvNnq6sZ6Gqsqa60qWYp5xdp7K1tdGenGafmauytHnOrqtmoJmoeq%2FBzJucq2Wfo3q1tcqtpqRlpKR6sL7GmqWiq5VisKK%2BwK%2BYp2Wglr%2BsecGiqa2glJbGbq7ArJ9oppWswG6%2F06ipsmeUmYN4fJObcGltlGWvo7KQcmxtb5aagnh%2Bj3CcbXFnmQ%3D%3D