Housewives are nearly immune to it. Most men are pushovers when it happens. Some people are just plain gullible.
I’m talking about telemarketing.
If any of you have ever stayed home for a day or two, you know that the phone will ring at least twice, sometimes as many as ten times in a day, with someone trying to sell something.
I used to be nice. Really. But I’ve got to tell you, when I answer the phone and the voice on the other end says, “Hello, Mrs. Higgins?” and I say, “Yes?” and then they ask, “How are you doing today?” I just want to scream.
I feel like saying, “You want to know how I’m doing, do you? Well, I’ve just paid bills, and I’m in a lousy mood. I’ve had a cold and cough for going on two weeks now, and that’s not helping. My daughter ‘remembered’ late last night that she needed to bake something for school today, so guess who got to ‘help’ and guess who didn’t get enough sleep last night?”
But I don’t say those things. I say “Fine” in the most non-committal monotone voice I can muster, hoping the telemarketer will just hang up.
But they don’t. “Well, that’s great,” they say. Like they really care about my day. Then they start in on “The reason I’m calling you today is …”
I used to listen to their spiel because I reminded myself that this is a JOB for them. But now I just don’t have the patience. As soon as I can get a word in, I say as nicely as I can, “Thank you for calling, but I’m not interested.” Then I hang up the phone as the voice is chattering away with all the reasons why I really should be interested.
The point is, housewives are immune to these calls. We’ve heard about amazing siding, free vacations, more low long distance rates than you can imagine, and light bulbs that last forever. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
My husband, on the other hand, is a pushover. He got into big trouble (with me) when he answered one of these calls and agreed to subscribe to several magazines.
He is forbidden from talking with telemarketers now. He’ll say (no kidding), “My wife won’t let me talk with people like you. I’m sorry.”
Then there’s my mom.
She hates telemarketers as much as the next person, but she got a call last week from a woman selling light bulbs. She says she doesn’t know why, but she decided to listen to the whole sales pitch.
At the end, she said, “Okay, I’ll buy a couple of packages.” It was going to be around $15, I think.
There was a pause. Then the woman said, “Excuse me, did you say you wanted to order some light bulbs?”
My mom said yes, and the lady started crying.
“I’ve been on the phone all morning, and you’re the first person who wanted to buy anything,” she said through her sobs. My mother started crying, too.
When I talked with her a short while after this call, I could tell she had been crying. “What’s wrong?” I asked in a panic.
“Oh, I bought some light bulbs. And it made some lady’s day.”
It made my day, too. I’ve decided to start listening again, even if I don’t buy anything. Can’t hurt. Might even make somebody’s day.
My husband, however, is still forbidden.
