Telemarketers

I HATE telemarketers!

I know, everyone does. But I hate them so much that I just ignore the phone when it's ringing. And DH hates that I do that. He gets annoyed. He says it's more annoying to sit and listen to the ringing phone than it is just to get it over with.

But I disagree. You see, most of the time, there's no one even there!! What the hell?!

My mom sent me an email the other day (that I erased and now wish I'd saved) that was about how to deal with these annoying calls, plus something about junk mail. Ok, I don't really care about the junk mail. Some kind person placed a recycling bin next to our mailboxes and so I stand there and sort the mail as soon as I take it out of the box.

It's the phone calls I hate.

Ringggg. Rinnnnnngggggggg. Ring. Ring. (Ok, that's my printed version of the long distance ring, which is always my first alert to a TM.)

Check the call display.

1-800-***-****.

Hm.

Nope, don't think I'll pick that up, thank you.

Sometimes I do pick it up (just to make DH happy, or less annoyed.)

"Hello?"

Silence.

"HELLOOOO????!!"

At this point I hang up. DH becomes annoyed anyway. He would rather wait to speak to a person, so he can tell them off. He's really good at that.

According to the email I got from Mom, most of those annoying no-one-there phone calls, are some sort of checking system; fleshing out who's home at what time, so that a REAL person can call and annoy you.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??? Who would take that job?? Sit there, on a phone, getting yelled at by people all day long. That would be so demoralizing.

So if that email is true, is it better or worse to answer the phone? Ignore it, so that this "system" learns that no one is ever home (or will they keep calling figuring there must be some time that someone is home) or just, as DH says, answer and get it over with? I don't know.

And then there are the times when an automated voice comes on asking you to hold for "an important message." WTF is that?? And how much nerve does this company have to call and bother me at home, and then rudely ask me to hold so they can bug me some more?? That kind of thing should be illegal!