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the high cost of charity
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the high cost of charity I sit here this morning still fuming a little bit after slamming the phone down hard enough to nearly break it. I'm a bit over a month at my Mom's place, and oddly enough ...the single MOST annoying thing about living here has been the PHONE of all things. I think it's probably pretty safe to say that she gets a minimum of 10 phone calls a day from either charitable organizations or political calls. People of just about any political affiliation will sit around and argue all day about the reasons why the country is going to hell in a handbasket. Recently my BIL was trying to explain something to me that sounded good on the surface, but was just a little bit too simplistic to be quite as black and white as he was trying to make it sound. The difference between micro- and macro-economics is pretty huge, and seldom does one simple thing contribute to something as huge as a global economy. So anyway, for the third week in a row at 8:30am on Saturday morning, I get a call from a blocked number (at least the legitimate political calls have the balls to not leave the caller ID totally blocked). I don't see this as a cause of anything, but I certainly see it as a sign of a lot of what is wrong these days. My mother is ill, she's been fighting cancer for nearly three years now ...she's still ambulatory, still works part-time four days a week, but the main reason I moved in here in the first place is because her energy level just isn't letting her keep up with things. She likes to sleep in on Saturday mornings, and I encourage her to sleep as much as she can when she can. I do get up early myself; if I don't, the does so I tend to be up around 7 anyway. Honestly though, ten calls a day from people wanting money are ten too many for ME whether I'm asleep or not. Back in the days when I worked at a real job, I was even reasonably generous with certain charities. I don't recall borderline harassment from any of them back then; either they were more ethical then or perhaps "marketing" is different for seniors, but at some point these current folks need to start getting their heads together and start realizing that when they're calling so often that people are actively avoiding their phones ...they might just be calling a little bit too often. The first week I answered, they asked for my father who has been dead for over two and a half years. I told them he was deceased and to please remove this number from the call list. As has become the fad in the last decade or two ...rather than apologizing, the person launched into a spiel that I simply hung up on. The second week, both my Aunt and my mother were sleeping ...again I snatched up the phone quickly to minimize the chance of waking them up, and again the person on the other end asked for my father. I was a bit less polite ...told him the person they were asking for was deceased and others in the house were still trying to sleep; please stop calling at all ...but the early hour was simply assuring I wouldn't give them the time of day. Once again, no apologies ...just a launch into a spiel that I hung up on. To be honest ...the first two calls I didn't even give them time to identify who they were (when they're asking for somebody who's been dead for nearly three years, one really doesn't NEED too much more information). This morning ...and NOW I'm starting to sense a pattern. The phone rings and once again they ask for my father; I respond this time by asking if they realize what time they're calling. The chipper young female voice on the other end tells me that it's eight AM; plenty of time that people should be up and around. I inform her that not all people like to get up that early, and the third week of calling for my deceased father wasn't endearing themselves to me. The woman responded by telling me that she was sorry I was so "inconvenienced" (heavy sarcasm in her voice) by the call, but in Africa were dying from cancer as we spoke and... "Take this number off your FUCKING list" (and yes, in real life I can cuss in bold font too). One thing about me in real life is that I'm not big on explanations or excuses even when we're standing face to face; my patience is even less on the phone (which I don't care for much even with people I DO like). If I tell you to leave, I'm not going to burden you with a ton of reasons why. If you work in sales, I'm not above slamming the door and even in one particular memorable case ...physically "helping" you out the door. When I'm done with you, I'm done. If you continue to call at an hour I specifically say not to, asking for a person you've been repeatedly told is deceased; how much attention do I really feel they are going to pay to the irony of asking donations for cancer when the spouse of the person they are calling for is trying to sleep, mostly due to the exhaustion of three years worth of treatment for the very cause they're trying to collect money for? If the first two aren't working, I see no reason to expend any energy on the third. I think next time I'm going to ask for specific information about the outfit and find out what steps I need to take in order to make an official charge of harassment. My older brother did that to a collection agency who kept calling even though he was not the correct number for the person they were trying to reach. Filing criminal charges DID stop the calls, but the fact he had to do it in the first place was pretty fucking sad. I never thought I'd see the day that a charity would employ high pressure sales although the fact that they block their number makes me question their legitimacy in the first place. I just have to wonder if in the history of whatever outfit they are ...has that sarcasm EVER worked in getting a ? |
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Have you registered your phone number with the National Do No Call registry? If not, please do so. It helps. Also, if you ask to be removed from a list, they are required to do so. Get the person's name, the company name and any other information you can get out of the caller. The nail their ass with charges of violating the FCC regulations. You might also consider turning the ringer off on Saturday mornings and just let it go to voice mail if you have it. Pagan  Hmmmm....I know I left that wand around here somewhere!
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Have you registered your phone number with the National Do No Call registry? If not, please do so. It helps. Also, if you ask to be removed from a list, they are required to do so. Get the person's name, the company name and any other information you can get out of the caller. The nail their ass with charges of violating the FCC regulations. You might also consider turning the ringer off on Saturday mornings and just let it go to voice mail if you have it.
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