Get me in a conversation and I like to go off on a tangent. Which reminds me of what happened the other day when I answered my cell phone only to receive a solicitation call.
But let me first explain that my cell phone is registered in my business name and address. It is the only cell phone I have. About a dozen years ago I came to the conclusion that I no longer needed a land line at a physical location. I was now a part of the many self-employed consultants who run a virtual office.
I can either do work at a client site and more often than not work from home remoting into sites as well. By the way, the spellchecker does not like the word “remoting”. Someone ought to tell the lexicographers that it’s the new way of working, baby.
I had maybe less than six months earlier re-registered my cell phone number on the “do not call list” as I was not sure if it was still on it. The website told me that my request was accepted but that it could take a month to kick in. Still, it seems that there are a lot of businesses that prey on suckers via Alexander Graham Bell’s gift to the world while ignoring the purpose of the list.
It’s true that charities are exempt as well as anyone affiliated with anyone with whom you currently do business. That means that a credit card company may sell your financial data and phone number to one of those solicitors and they want to claim that they are affiliated with the credit card company so it is okay to annoy you and me.
Anyway, back to the phone call. I’m driving my car with the bluetooth device plugged into my ear.
That’s another word- bluetooth. If you separate it into two words, someone is gonna think you have a strangely colored tooth and why would you want to stick it into your ear? So, again- the lexicographer is asleep on the job.
By the way- again- I want to run people off the road who put the phone to their ear instead of buying a less than $100 bluetooth device. If you happen to be one of them who holds the phone to your ear while driving- beware. You’ve been forewarned.
Again, back to the phone call. The lady said to me, “can I have the person who is in charge of your Com Ed bill?” For those of you who cannot figure this one out, Com Ed is short for Commonwealth Edison, which is the company that provides electricity to my residence. It also provides it to my so-called office but I could care less. I sublet space. The lessors deal with the utilities- not me.
I was annoyed for a few reasons- one, I got a call for solicitation on my business line; two, the number is supposed to be in the ‘do not call’ list; three- I hate talking on the phone when driving- even using the blue tooth because if it a customer support call it is difficult to give it the necessary attention.
I replied immediately: “that does not apply to me. Have a good day.”
The lady who called then said: “what do you mean by that?”
I answered: “look, you called me and I don’t need to say even a word.”
She quickly retorted: “okay, sorry.”
I hung up but really wanted to say: “no, you are not sorry. You pester people over the phone for a living. Even if you have a good product or service to sell you have no business bothering me or anyone else unless I asked you to call me. And I know whom I tell to call me.”
So, here’s the deal- if you hold a cellphone to your ear while driving and are also a phone solicitor- look in the mirror and ask yourself why people are rude to you. As Al Pacino once said in a movie
where he played a lawyer and said to the judge, “don’tcha even care?”