"News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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Woke up in opposite world again by MonkeyMan Tuesday, July 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK I don't understand why I have to call and register my phone number with a national "no call" registry. I don't want someone, to whom I didn't give my number, to call me. Simple. I have a free Yahoo email account, so I can't complain about the junk email I get. My mail is delivered to my door, kinda' free, so I can't complain about the junk mail I get in my letterbox. But I pay for my phone, dammit! That number is mine, I pay for it, and if I don't give you permission to use it, then don't! (I used to pay for a private number, but was still getting calls.) But nooooo! The onus is on me to call and register so that people who don't have my permission won't call. I thought my cell phone was safe, but now I am getting calls on it too. That costs me minutes which cost money! I take the credit card applications, write "No, Thanks" on the front page and mail every bit of it back including the envelope it came in to them in the free return envelope. Gives my post person something to do. I used to have a frig that had a compressor that was going bad. It made an awful racket. So, when telemarketers would call I would answer and ask them to hold on a minute, then I would lay the phone down beside the compressor and walk off. My Mom, who hates telemarketers even more than I do, gives them hell. She says in her best little old lady voice, "Can you hang on a second?" then she blasts them with a referees' whistle; cracks me up! Her cats don't think much of it, though. I don't let strangers stay in my house, drive my car, or eat my food. Why do they think they can call my number? It's mine, I pay for it. Cable TV is another thing I don't get. In the beginning, we bought TV sets with antennae and received the shows for free. But to pay for the cost of broadcasting, they got corporate sponsors who promoted their products. In the middle of Burns and Allen, Carnation would do a little spot to promote their milk in a can. Now I pay for TV, and still have to sit through commercials. They are double dipping. If I pay for it, shouldn't it be commercial free? Or if they are selling air time to advertisers, cable TV should be free. Is it me? MonkeyMan Can't argue with any of it. I have some sympathy for telemarketers, because I imagine it's a pretty crappy job, but the steam blows out of my ears when it's a robotic telemarketing call. Helen & Harry
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