Jerry Seinfeld Fans Will Get This

One of my pet peeves is telemarketers as I'm sure they are with many of you. I mean, why would they want to put themselves through such abuse? Do they not have any other career options? And why would they want a job that aggravates so many people they call?

I've reached the point of not answering my phone because the majority of calls are telemarketers or incoming faxes. Can you relate? Why they send faxes is beyond me since I don't have a fax machine, but that ear-shattering squeal is enough to send anyone over the top.

There's no way to tell them to stop either, because hitting #69 to get the number will only refer you to a fax machine. How irritating is that?

Telemarketers are just as difficult to turn off. They call with their sales pitch, you try to let them down gently, but… THEY WON'T LET YOU.

You know the type. The ones who keep talking over you or continue talking after you've given them your answer. They are robots who are not listening. Perhaps that's how they manage to get past the abuse.

That's why I stopped answering my phone all the time, even though there is always a risk that I will miss an urgent phone call. Thank goodness for answering machines. I figure, if the call is that important, they'll leave a message. Most don't – a good clue that the call was just another telemarketer.

I was in a quandary as to how to deal with the flood of telemarketers without being rude and abusive. Nothing came to me.

Then, one day while watching the Jerry Seinfeld show, the solution was delivered to me. You might have seen the episode. For those of you who didn't, it goes like this.

Jerry is chatting with friends when the phone rings. He breaks away to answer it. It's a telemarketer. Jerry replies, calmly and effectively, "I'm busy right now. Give me your home number and I'll call you back." The telemarketer hangs up and Jerry looks at the phone, puzzled.

It's perfect. Thank you, Jerry. :)

Sylvia
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