Some of them will not be first-time callers, said Harvey, who in keeping with A.A. tradition prefers not to use his last name.

When a first-time caller reaches you, a couple of thumb nudges on the phone's left-side roller switch create a new address-book entry.

Expect straight talking, passionate opinions but first-time callers are always allowed to comment uninterrupted and made to feel welcome.

Now, only 25 percent are first-time callers.

"Literally, I have been accused of everything from murder on down," the first-time caller complained.

Seth, a first-time caller from Idaho, said the Republican Party was going to renege on its promise to enact term limits.

The problems posed by their carcasses created many first-time callers to an agency known as the "complaint center," where my mother volunteered answering phones.

Many were first-time callers, were curious or needed to share a guilty secret with a voice they'd never meet.

It is not permissible to be a first-time caller.