When Ken and I got married I decided that I would keep my maiden name. The ONLY time I use my married name is on our telephone listing in the phone book. I did that because I have learned that if you piss enough of the public off, it isn't that hard to track you down and get back at you outside of regular office hours. And I pissed the public off. Alot.
Even though I changed my name, some people still manage to track me down. We get the almost monthly call from our cable and/or telephone provider looking to upgrade our service to a more expensive pile of crap. A few times a year the Alumni association of the University will call asking us to donate to help the poor students on campus. Yeah, I'll do that - as soon as I pay off my student loan. In about 20 years (and that unfortunately is no joke). But what is the worst is the telemarketers - but I am lucky because I don't understand a word of what they are saying - they are all Chinese.
Canada hasn't yet embraced the US idea of the "do not call list" for telemarketers. That is no biggie for me, all I had to do was use my married name (which came with my Chinese husband) and no telemarketer that speaks english will touch me with a 10 foot pole. The Chinese telemarketers are just as persistant, but I have a great "out" - I can't understand them and tell them right away that I don't speak a word of Chinese - and THEY hang up on ME. What a novelty!!! I do get the odd one that instantly switches to English, and that is when I pinch whatever child is closest to me and the loud squeals of protest are equally as effective. I am sure that trying to get a sales pitch passed a screaming child is not worth the minimum wage they are getting paid.
My kids though won't have it as easy. They are picking up alot of Chinese from their Grandparents - and I am sure one day they will be able to tell any telemarketer where they can stick it, in a variety of foreign languages. Hell, I am sure they have already told their mom to piss off and I don't even know it yet.
1 comment:
anna - this is fantastic! and hilarious - nice work!
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