Friday, September 12, 2008

Guilty Pleasure of the evening...and a dilemma

Neapolitan ice cream sundae with triple berry topping and probably way too much hot fudge drizzled on top....Yummm!

Seriously, has anyone else been experiencing a huge influx of telemarketing calls? I can't remember a time when my phone has been ringing this much. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad....(aughhhhh BRAIN FREEZE!....)if I had any interest in what these, {I'm sure really nice} people {with incredibly unfortunate professions} were selling. BUT I have no use for 22,547 channels all featuring the life and adventures of various amoebas OR timeshare for vacations in beautiful Death Valley California.

I'm also getting frequent visits from our friendly neighborhood solicitors. I can't bare to be mean to any of them, what with their Mamas with pegged legs (no offense to those who are missing appendages)who need a rare operation to save their hair, their hungry monkey pets desperately needing the funds from magazine sales, and their need to sell the most new windows so they won't be forced to give up their first born child to the window making bosses.

I do feel so bad for not being able to help them out but I beginning to fear picking up the phone and answering the door. I'm sure these people are really nice so I want to make sure they aren't crushed when we part ways...but what if all of these people get together and say, "Hey! Go to her house! She will feed you cookies and give you a glass of Kool-Aid!" How do I avoid these situations and save myself and them time without being mean? THIS QUESTION IS GOING TO KEEP ME UP TONIGHT!!

I do have a confession. For those who choose never to speak to me again, I understand. For a brief 4 month period in 1996-1997 I too, was a telemarketer. Everyday I went to work I felt like a little piece of my soul was being sucked out and I had nightmares of customers chasing me, ready to pelt me with satellite dishes. I also gained an education on new combinations of swear words. There are a few words I heard during that time I still don't know the meaning of. It was a very dark time in my life. I don't talk about it much.

Because of this I am trying hard to remember how much I appreciated when people were nice. So is there a magic or secret code in telemarketing and door to door solicitations that automatically tells them to stop the spiel and move on...while also letting them know that they are still good people and can rise above their current job description? If anyone knows PLEASE TELL ME!

4 comments:

cmnacnud said...

My magic word is no, but I know you have a hard time with that. I have a hard time with fake politeness. So, "no, thank-you" doesn't work for me. I'm not thankful that they offered their product to me, especially when they so rarely believe in it. If they truely thought that they were helping me that's another thing.

I have the same issue when it comes to apologizing. When someone says sorry people say, "it's ok." It's not ok what they did was not ok or they wouldn't have needed to apologize. So instead I say OK, or thank you (as in thank you for your apology I accept it and forgive you). That's my spiel.

Kelley said...

Your guilty pleasure sounds delicious. Mine is either oatmeal cookies or a mango-dango sundae - a vanilla frozen custard concoction with mango sauce (with chunks of mango, of course) and roasted pecans. Oh my. Of course, this particular guilty pleasure is totally off-limits right now. As soon as Rachel is okay with me eating dairy again I will make a beeline for the frozen custard place and savor every bite.

About your other problem, all I know how to do is put my number on the national Do Not Call list, and say "no, thank you" when they do call. Sorry, I don't have anything else to tell you.

Thanks for your comments. You still have the ability to open the windows and let the sunshine back into my life with a few kind words.

Mary Ann said...

I have the hardest time saying no. It has gotten me into trouble, like the time me and my comp spent all our money on this wierd window washing mop and had no money for the rest of the month for groceries! Luckily my hubby is more straightforward than I am, although I am getting better!

Daya said...

The phone always has a pause first when it's a solicitor. I just hang up when there is the pause. Yes I have hung up on a couple of friends but they always call back and once I explain why I hung up thy just know that they have to talk faster next time. For those rare occasions that they do get through a simple no thank you and Please remove me from your list is what they get. I am a little rude if they call back after I asked to be removed. But only a little!! ;o)