Hi everyone,

Since I've been at home on involuntary vacation, I've received a large number of telemarketer calls. I cannot wait for the national "do not call" registry to go into effect. It will not be soon enough.

I have to fight the need to be nasty. I'm usually a fairly polite person, but when people you don't know call when you're trying to sleep, or of course during a meal, it gets annoying. As I was leaving to go to the condo, some lady called me. I recognize the telltale pause in response (as the automated system connects the call to the telemarketer), so after I said hello, I just stayed on the line and didn't say anything. Just waited. After a few hellos on the other side, I could still hear people in the background getting rejected ("ok, I'll try back later", etc.) 15 seconds :) In silence, with someone that you don't know, that's a long time. I ended up hanging up first, because I was bored.

I know, I know. It's not the person who randomly calls me who is at fault. It's his/her job. That's why I usually nip the converstaion in the bud right away, and say "sorryI'mnotinterestedhaveaniceday" and hang up. The telemarketing profession is probably one of those that tops most people's most annoying profession list.

-Kirk