I love having the same name as my dad. I mean, sure, I have to tack a “The Third” (Grandfather was the first) onto all formal certificates, which sounds incredibly preppy, but it definitely has its benefits.
A telemarketer just called, and the conversation we had will follow. The last name has been changed, but everything else is more or less the same.
<Phone rings> Me: Hello? Telemarketer: Hello, I’m calling from Crappy Useless Extremely Annoying Appliance Company. (Alright, so I changed one other thing) Me: Okay. Telemarketer: May I speak with Walter Lastname? Me: I’m sorry, he’s not here at the moment. Telemarketer: I see. Is there a better time when he can be reached? Me: No. Telemarketer: No? Me: No. Telemarketer: No better time? Me: Nope. He’s…away a lot. Telemarketer: I see. Well, is anyone else who I can talk to there? Me: Nope. Telemarketer: I see. And what is your name? Me: My name? Telemarketer: Yes. I need to keep track of who I’ve talked to. Your name? Me: Walter Lastname. Telemarketer: You’re…Walter? Me: Yup. Telemarketer: But…Walter…was… Me: Yup. Bye.
<click>
I’ve told people “No, I’m not here” before. I thought it was just me.
Another good dodge is to ask “Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your life as you Savior?”
If they say yes, you scream “Infidel!” and hang up. If they say “No.” you say “See you in Hell.” and hang up.
-Rue.
In my younger days, I loved to play games with those guys. One of my proudest moments was when a carpet cleaning service called and I asked them if they could get a very large blood stain out. Nowadays I miss 90% of them with caller ID and the sneaky ones I just hang up on. It’s funny how callous you can become when large parts of the stuff that comes through your phone, mailbox and email is spam.
Play with their minds.