# Oh noes! I offended a telemarketer!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [June 26, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235 "2006-06-26T17:40:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/61 "2006-06-27T18:36:55Z")
I didn’t used to dislike telemarketers - until they started calling my cell phone.
With my home phone at least it’s not costing me anything.
On my cell phone, I’m paying to talk to them. They’re wasting valuable minutes. Or not-so-valuable, but still.
And half the time they’d call me and start talking in Spanish. My last name is Gonzales, but it’s mostly a fluke (dad’s stepdad signed his birth certificate - big family scandal. Gotta love it). The only things I can say in Spanish are “Where are my pants?” and “Fuck your mother.” When Spanish telemarketers call me assuming I can speak Spanish (and I’m going to state this here, too - a lot of people with Hispanic last names CAN NOT speak Spanish. One of my best friends has the last name of Fuentes, as does her Hispanic husband. Neither of them speaks Spanish, and in fact the husband is a punk rocker) those two phrases tend to come out a lot, especially that last one.
I once saw a bumper sticker that said “Telemarketers - the crackwhores of commerce.” Unfortunately, it’s apt. People willing to sell their souls for a paycheck are probably better off on welfare - I’ve done some CRAPPY things in my life to try to get money, and I never went out of my way to annoy someone on their own time. It violates one of my principle beliefs, which is “Leave people alone, because they don’t want to talk to you.”
~Tasha
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/62 "2006-06-27T19:06:08Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> No offense to the OP, but neither is a tax business.
Excuse me? We aren’t the IRS and we aren’t H and R Block. It’s more like a law firm- we help people that owe hundreds of thousands if not millions to the IRS, FTB, etc. People that are having their entire check garnished and can’t feed their kids. People that are about to lose their houses. People that have had nervous breakdowns and tried to kill themselves from the stress of their problems (I recall one instance last year where my father literally went and took a gun out of a client’s mouth after his wife called us hysterical).
So next time you want to make an overly generalized statement, at least ask what we do first. Granted, I didn’t clarify exactly what we do, but that wasn’t called for (and it also wasn’t necessary for me to elaborate in the OP). If you think all tax business don’t have any net effect on society, I suggest you talk to some of our clients.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/63 "2006-06-27T19:09:05Z")
> [@congodwarf](#):
>
> Can you PLEASE make sure it’s a telemarketer on the phone before you hang up? Try listening to the person on the other end of the line. If they say they’re from a valid company (one who’s services you sought out), chances are pretty damn good that they are really from that company. Asking for Mr or Mrs Smith does not automatically make a person a telemarketer. I can’t count how many times I am hung up on because I don’t presume that my customers appreciate me being informal with them.
I totally understand, I get the same thing when I call some of our clients at work. That said, it’s only my dad and I here, so I generally know the companies we deal with. If I don’t recognize the name, I set the phone down and holler, “Daaaaad, do you have anything to do with business XYZ?” Then I get back on and give them a chance to explain themselves. If they are clearly selling something, I hang up.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/64 "2006-06-27T19:12:46Z")
> [@Lissa](#):
>
> Clearly, you and I are not going to agree on this. Most telemarketers aren’t rude. I’ve never had one treat me rudely.
No, actually, every single telemarketer in exsistence is rude. How do I know this? The same way that I know that every single pickpocket in the world is a criminal. The practice of telemarketing itself is inherently impolite. There’s no way to do it without being rude.
> [@](#):
>
> Almost every single one of these traits could describe people who work in retail, or refilling candy machines, or taking orders in a resturant.
Nope. Those people are fulfilling a necessary role for which I have purposfully sought out their services. This makes them different from telemarketers in precisely every possible way.
> [@](#):
>
> Always? My goodness, the amount of research you must have put into cheking out every single telemarketing firm is _staggering_.
Yes, always. Every single time. Because it is inherent in the “job” they do. _Telemarketing itself is despicable,_ and no matter how desperate their straits, any decent person ought to be ashamed to be doing it.
> [@](#):
>
> No different than most salespeople.
Except that most salespeople, if they bother me, can be avoided by leaving the store. Telemarketers can not be avoided without leaving my _home_, or without either forgoing the use of an appliance I pay for (unplugging the phone), or paying extra to avoid them (caller ID). Neither of these two alternatives is acceptable to me.
> [@](#):
>
> As I said, it’s clear we’re not going to agree on this issue. I see telemarketing as, at most, a minor annoyance, but one which employs thousands of people who might otherwise have trouble finding work. You seem to see it as a Great Evil, on par with prostitution, and that everyone involved with it is depraved and dishonest, with the sole intent of annoying you.
That’s not true. I have _much_ more respect for prostitutes than I do for telemarketers.
> [@](#):
>
> Christ, man, if telemarketers are the worst thing you encounter, you live a charmed life.
No, I’ve encountered many, many things worse than telemarketers. So what? That doesn’t make my complaints about telemarketers invalid. One is not limited to only complaining about the very worst thing that’s ever happened to them, to the exclusion of all lesser insults, indignities, and inconveniences.
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/65 "2006-06-27T19:44:40Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> Excuse me?
My comment was more a dig at our over complicated tax code and our litigious society. If we had a simpler tax code we wouldn’t need accountants to figure it out for us. If folks had a better sense of personal responsibility, we wouldn’t need lawyers to help us sue each other. Tax accountants and lawyers are middle men that contribute to the inefficiency of our society, a drain if you will. They produce nothing, only consume.
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### Author:  [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/66 "2006-06-27T19:53:46Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> My comment was more a dig at our over complicated tax code and our litigious society. If we had a simpler tax code we wouldn’t need accountants to figure it out for us. If folks had a better sense of personal responsibility, we wouldn’t need lawyers to help us sue each other. Tax accountants and lawyers are middle men that contribute to the inefficiency of our society, a drain if you will. They produce nothing, only consume.
And if folks didn’t shed skin cells, we wouldn’t need vacuum cleaners to clean them up. If folks didn’t commit crimes, we wouldn’t need cops. If folks didn’t get sick all the time, we wouldn’t need doctors. That doesn’t mean that vacuum cleaner manufacturers, police officers, and doctors are a “drain” on society.
I fail to see the point you’re trying to make here.
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/67 "2006-06-27T19:54:55Z")
> [@congodwarf](#):
>
> Can you PLEASE make sure it’s a telemarketer on the phone before you hang up?
Absolutely. These calls always start …
Them: Hello, is Ponder Stibbons in?
Me: May I ask who’s calling please?
Them: Such-n-such …
Me: No thank you. \
Of course, about half the time they say it’s Chase Bank calling, so I have to hold on to see what they want. About one time in twenty, it’s someone from credit card customer service verifying that I really wanted to make that big purchase (yes, I did, thank you). The other 19 times they start their spiel about some whoop-de-doo new service. In those cases I interrupt whatever they’ve started into with “No thank you” and hang up.
I might note that I’m polite for _my_ benefit, not theirs. If I let them get me upset, then really I’m the one that ends up all angry and worked up. As far as the telemarketer is concerned, well, fuck’em, for reasons explained quite well by Excalibre and Miller above.
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### Author:  [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/68 "2006-06-27T20:00:14Z")
I find it funny that telemarketers take anything someone says personally. I never let someone get me upset when I was doing that sort of work, though more often people were thanking me for calling them.
It wasn’t the best job, but it did give me the sales experience I needed to get the job I have now which combines my insurance background with the sales exp I got through telemarketing. So I wouldn’t say it’s always a job that goes nowhere, because for me it opened up a good career path with a major company.
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/69 "2006-06-27T20:00:28Z")
> [@Excalibre](#):
>
> And if folks didn’t shed skin cells, we wouldn’t need vacuum cleaners to clean them up. If folks didn’t commit crimes, we wouldn’t need cops. If folks didn’t get sick all the time, we wouldn’t need doctors. That doesn’t mean that vacuum cleaner manufacturers, police officers, and doctors are a “drain” on society.
>
> I fail to see the point you’re trying to make here.
In a perfect society, would still need the vaccum cleaners and doctors. We might could do without the cops. I’ll freely admit that as long as we are talking about human society it will always be far from perfect so perhaps the police officers, lawyers, and tax accountants are safe for now.
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### Author:  [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/70 "2006-06-27T20:04:39Z")
OP asked this be moved to the Pit, so here goes.
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### Author:  [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/71 "2006-06-27T20:19:42Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> In a perfect society, would still need the vaccum cleaners and doctors. We might could do without the cops. I’ll freely admit that as long as we are talking about human society it will always be far from perfect so perhaps the police officers, lawyers, and tax accountants are safe for now.
I simply don’t see how providing a useful service - as **Diosabellisima** and her father obviously do - can possibly be described as a “drain” on society. Not only do I not buy your argument about how the tax code should be made simpler, but I don’t see how it follows from it that they’re somehow not contributing positively to society. By your standard, the entire justice system is a “drain”. In fact, almost any profession can be reclassified as a “drain on society” if we follow your reasoning and start saying, "If only people would . . . ".
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/72 "2006-06-27T20:22:15Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> My comment was more a dig at our over complicated tax code and our litigious society. If we had a simpler tax code we wouldn’t need accountants to figure it out for us. If folks had a better sense of personal responsibility, we wouldn’t need lawyers to help us sue each other. Tax accountants and lawyers are middle men that contribute to the inefficiency of our society, a drain if you will. They produce nothing, only consume.
I had a long, drawn out reply once again explaining what it is that we do exactly. But instead:
Since you hate our over complicated tax code and our litigious society, may I ask how you are fixing it? Because, see, that’s what our business does. We aren’t accountants, we aren’t lawyers, we are advocates (wow, doesn’t that sound pretentious?). We work closely with our local politicians (one of which is the Chair of the Ways and Means Com.) to make sure that the already fucked tax code is at least fairly applied. We also work with groups from across the country to push tax reform. Did I mention we also work directly with the politicians to push for such a change?
But what do I know? We’re just middle men that contribute to the inefficiency of our society. A drain, if you will.
At least we’re _doing something_. Can you say the same?
Oh and I asked the thread to be moved as things seem to be a bit heated on a few fronts.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/73 "2006-06-27T20:25:02Z")
> [@Antinor01](#):
>
> I find it funny that telemarketers take anything someone says personally. I never let someone get me upset when I was doing that sort of work, though more often people were thanking me for calling them.
I’d imagine it’s just one of those things that needles at you slowly, growing and growing. Just like one telemarketer calling me and being rude and a bit sexist isn’t a big deal, but by the time I get to the 10th caller of the day, I’m going to be in less than a good mood.
I’m sure getting hung up on 50 times a day, often with cursing and threats won’t put someone in a good mood.
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/74 "2006-06-27T20:42:50Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> Can you say the same?
No, I am not currently, nor do I ever plan to do anything to change the tax code one way or the other.
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### Author:  [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/75 "2006-06-27T21:13:42Z")
> [@Lissa](#):
>
> Clearly, you and I are not going to agree on this. Most telemarketers aren’t rude. I’ve never had one treat me rudely.
Why were you forced to be rude and talk over that poor telemarketer in your example, then? A self-righteous prig once told me that being rude to a telemarketer is not justified.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/76 "2006-06-27T21:16:26Z")
I’m amazed this has gone on this long, and no one has linked to the [final word on the subject.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=51270)
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/77 "2006-06-27T21:26:06Z")
> [@Smeghead](#):
>
> I’m amazed this has gone on this long, and no one has linked to the [final word on the subject.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=51270)
Post number 23.
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### Author:  [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/78 "2006-06-27T21:49:10Z")
> [@Smeghead](#):
>
> I’m amazed this has gone on this long, and no one has linked to the [final word on the subject.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=51270)
OK, I just spent the better (and I mean that in bth senses) part of an hour reading that thread and the one that sparked it off. I need to buy **Cervaise** a…cervaise.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/79 "2006-06-27T21:51:03Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> > [@UncleRojelio](#):
> >
> > No offense to the OP, but neither is a tax business.
>
> Excuse me? We aren’t the IRS and we aren’t H and R Block. It’s more like a law firm-
I’m sure you didn’t intend this, but both the IRS and firms like H&R Block perform socially useful functions. The IRS gathers money so that it can be spent on things that our representatives have agreed are socially useful, like health, education, roads, social welfare. And firms like H&R Block help ordinary taxpayers comply with the complex laws surrounding this process. Both very socially useful, in much the same way as your firm is useful, and as most telemarketers are not. (And I’ve never worked in the tax business, on either side, so I’m completely unbiased here.)
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-noes-i-offended-a-telemarketer/362235/80 "2006-06-27T22:25:24Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> No, I am not currently, nor do I ever plan to do anything to change the tax code one way or the other.
So, I’d argue that in a democracy it is the job of the citizens to keep our governmental institutions in check. Fucked up legal system? _Do something._ Unfair taxation? _Fix it._ No one said it is an easy thing to accomplish, but it can be done. In fact, I’m fairly certain that there is a document that deals directly with this problem.[Ah yes.](http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm) :rolleyes:
The argument follows that if anyone is adding to the inefficiency of our system and acting as nothing more than a social drain, it would be you, my friend.
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