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Monday, June 30, 2008

On the quest for justice

It's a little after 9:00 pm on Sunday. My husband and I are winding down our day, in our pj's already. EJ has been fast asleep for a little over an hour, the neighborhood is quiet, and it's dark outside. Suddenly, the phone rings. The first thought that goes through my head is Uh-Oh, what happened? I reach for the phone and barely glance at the caller id before answering.

"Hello?" I say
"Hi, can I please speak to Tara?"
"This is her." (Before I can ask who is speaking, the female caller begins a spiel)
"I'm calling from New Mexico Survey and I have a brief..."
(I cut her off) "Are you kidding me? Ma'am where are you located right now?"
"Where am I located?" she replies
"Yes, what city are you in right now?"
"Well, I, why ma'am?" she asked me
"Do you realize that in Albuquerque it's 9:00? AT NIGHT?"
"Yes I do ma'am."
"You realize how late it is and you are still calling people's houses interrupting their nights?"
"Yes."
"WHO TOLD YOU it was okay to call people this late at night? Do you realize children are asleep? Do you not care if you wake them up? Do you realize only bad thoughts come to mind when you hear the phone ring at this hour? What is the deal?"
To which she replied-"I understand thanks" and proceeds to hang up on me.

She didn't really care. My passionate speech did nothing to persuade her that what she was doing was a complete injustice and horrible inconvenience., The questions I asked should have at least caused her to pause and reflect and realize that I was right, it is wrong to call so late and that she should seriously consider finding a new job.
So then I began to wonder what happened to the do not call list? Did we fall off? Do we have to re-register? So I will be investigating that today.

PS- A little side note
I obviously didn't complete the survey last night because of time. But I do refuse to complete any survey when I am called because of a segment I watched on TV few years ago. It was an investigative report about how burglars, or predators can find out so much about you by asking seemingly harmless questions which happen to coincide with questions many legitimate surveys ask.
For example -
What is your average household income?
This answer is loaded because it can tell them what type of home you may live in, and the quality of things you may have in your home.
How many people in the home work?
This can tell them whether the home is vacant during the day or not
What is the highest level of education completed?
This gives them access to demographic info such as whether you have a professional career or not, and also can give them an idea of your income
What radio station do you listen to the most?
This question allows them to categorize your age. For example statistics show that older, upper class individuals listen to classical stations, while teens and early twenty somethings listen to hip-hop and rock stations.
So just an FYI. I realize not every burglar or predator is dedicated enough to figure all of this out and take the time to actually do this research, but you never know who is on the other end of the phone!

2 comments:

Jackie said...

The nerve! Good for you for letting her have it. That's so ridiculous. Did you figure out what the deal is with the Do Not Call list?

Yvonne Blake said...

Tara, thanks for commenting on my blog. (My Back Door)You are the first of anyone beyond my close friends that has visited. (I've only been up for a couple weeks.)I'm glad that I could encourage you. I'd be interested in how you found me.

Have a wonderful day with your little boy!