Yes, I’m going to have a rant today.
I pride myself with always being polite to people. I’m never rude. I always hold the door for people and I let people go ahead of me if they are in a hurry. I was brought up to always say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’. To always respect others, to turn the other cheek when necessary and to always have good manners.
I hate rude people!
What has brought about this rant, you might ask? I’ll tell you what!
The telephone rang and I got up to answer it. Whoever it was asked to speak to Mo, so I asked who was calling. It’s only polite to do that, in my opinion. I was immediately hit with an onslaught of verbal diarrhoea, with no answer to my question at all.
Realizing that he was obviously trying to sell something I said, “Hold on please!” He paused momentarily. ”I’m really not interested, thank you”, I said and he slammed the phone down on me!
Now I know that he has to try to reach sales numbers and it is a job to him, but how long does it take to say “Thanks for your time”?
I didn’t ask him to call. I didn’t want him to call. in fact, I am on the list of ‘No calls please’ and we are ex-directory. Not that that seems to make any difference. The fact that we get these phone call intrusions into our home, at any hour of the day or night, already angers me, but to be rude on top of that just makes my blood boil.
Who decided that it was OK to harass people in their homes? It’s bad enough that we get flooded with email spam, but interrupting our TV viewing, or worse, our evening meal, by calling us?
Have you heard the old saying “An Englishman’s home is his castle”?* Well, it used to be, but not any more. Anyone and everyone can purchase a list with everyone’s private information on it and use it however they want to. There should be a law against it.
I remember when…….OK, OK, I know that’s what all old people say, but I do remember when it was unheard of to call anyone ‘out of hours’. That meant you only made business calls between 9am and 6pm. If you had to call slightly later you started with an apology for the late call. You could guarantee that a phone call after 7pm was a friend or family member. I also remember when ‘telesales’ were company to company NOT private homes.
What will I do next time I receive one of these calls? I don’t know, but I know that I would like to just put the phone down as soon as I realize it’s another telesales call.
Will I actually be able to do it? It goes against the grain, but I have the right. They are intruders, after all.
* The English dictum that a man’s home is his refuge.
