I can't stand the constant begging everywhere I go. The phone calls don't come much and when they do, I'm polite because I recognize they have a job to do until they don't remove my number and continue to call.
The grocery stores by me have added to this. You can't get through the doors without passing some organization fund raising for something. Sometimes they're selling, other times they just ask for money. Then at the register, the cashier asks me to donate to whatever different cause the store is sponsoring. A dollar at the door and a dollar at the register doesn't seem like much except I go a few times a week because I like to buy my meat fresh. And I don't really like being strong armed into supporting someone's cause. I have a few of my own.
My final straw was last Sunday. I met some friends at our local bar to watch football when I saw a bunch of kids walking around selling candy. At first I thought how nice that the bar owners let them do this and that the kids hit upon a good idea until I was asked to buy a candy bar for $8. I gave the kid a $5 told him that was all I had, and then let the bar owner know I wouldn't be back.

I had no idea that writing an advice column for a living consumed so much fossil fuel. Amy, how could you?

You should meet with this guy and discuss energy options to fuel your column. Just think of it! You could pioneer this! You could head your advice columns as "The First and Only Solar-Powered Advice Column!"

My other pet peeve is the selling at work. I work in a mid-sized law firm and everyone has kids so someone is always selling something. Most people leave the packet at their desk, or their secretaries' desk and those that want to buy, can. No pressure. One paralegal in our office brought her (very cute) daughter in, and took her desk to desk and office to office to give her sales pitch. Talk about pressure....grrrrr!

The Federal Trade Commission administers the Do Not Call lists, and if those aren't working, they'd probably want to know.

But aside from not working, the Do Not Call list is the wrong tool for the job, a nanny-state solution. Market forces could probably do better job. Everyone's switching to cell phones anyway: A caller who uses up your cell minutes irresponsibly, an offense which can be traced and compensated.

The Federal Trade Commission administers the Do Not Call lists, and if those aren't working, they'd probably want to know.

Actually, I write about this in my book, too. They don't give a flying fuck about the calls you get, or just don't have the resources to do anything about most of them. Bleeding-heart Republican André Tascha-Lammé, of the site I link above, killthecalls.com, did an FOIA request, and found the FTC brings only the tiniest fraction of cases against these junk-calling fuckers.

That's why I love the Crid approach -- who do you send the carpet cleaners to in the Federal Building? I need this info for my book promo (I won't mention you personally!)

I have other ways of tormenting those "in the business of being rude," as I call it, in my upcoming book. Hee hee.

Yonder. No names; I'm still too cute to share a prison bunk with a teardrop-tatoo'd gangbanger.

PS- No solicitation phone calls, NONE, since that earlier blog posting. Aggression WORKS.

"One paralegal in our office brought her (very cute) daughter in, and took her desk to desk and office to office to give her sales pitch. Talk about pressure....grrrrr!"

The company I work for has a strict rule against this.

Umm, it's about to get much worse.

There is a tiny distance between your living room and the street; if you have nothing to hide, then of course someone will know what you need and will be eager to tell you about it.

By the way, you're a Thought Criminal.

Ever get SPAM at work? I have.

A while ago, I was a volunteer on a panel to change employee evaluations. A warm body, that is. I don't recall anything of interest being put into the final product by anyone who volunteered.

Afterwords, I got a letter, not an e-mail, and it said
"Dear Employee Evaluation Task Team Participant:
I would like to thank you personally..."

Irony should be in the Periodic Table of Elements. It's abundant!

Raddy - Props. The "Thank you personally" memorandum has always been a sore spot with me, too. There's never a line that goes "So stop by the office and...."

Kristen reminds me of the young man who tried to sell me a security system. It was a reputable brand and my wife is into security, so I was willing to let him try to convince me I should spend the money. The best he could do was that "it was a really good deal" and he implied that the sale would be good for him. Duh!

My BIL told me about a guy he knows who drives over to Home Depot, picks up immigrant laborers who loiter there to take them to the promise of a job... at the local INS office. They scatter like bunnies on fire.

LOL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8&ytsession=gqvb4wQDakLhv565x77uuQbRp3HVrD4qiBU_jpP0Unl2RquFCDMvGTkgpta8fUcxjxDZ7wzyf7nL4AUrI8pfEcmGzIfUVc8_AyJSiAC2HoEn8MXo1s6VSTmNI7Ufd09cqghaTqPBYciRLXnr3xdoyZMxKCf03j29nBzKmq3Z92IAWB0_U0dbCmXkSnM7tnXQTDi1Tf1h9WMDyfLBlJR4hoTMc2krpFLB7AzXdpfWnt_zsc8TyVVGhVJEmkE6ML-FUCYV4VTGaVvNQO8JLHCPtK1vIRYwcfRpfKu2GLaT5utBEbQfZPJdwySOaTBGljGS_kkXUomjwtgJjpbIoV2k6VRJ4RyoPb_QZPs1VwvRwlzVjZNL3OqqiR5Yw5IXCpgwY1AqO43SLtdvJtkv2XTSd0BXEU8VhyKLRjxaJ-iZjuIu7fi4Kk1BJnc_2Munlg4t

The part I loathe is the exception for existing business relationships.

My lawn care service is fine, except for all the extra stuff they try, repeatedly, to sell. I'm no longer polite when they call, and seriously considering looking for another.

Guilty confession: I tried being a telemarketer once. Lasted out my whole shift. I was trying to sell coupon books. It was hideous. Each call was harder to make. One evening was enough for me.

You might think I'd feel some sympathy for those damned souls manning the phones, but I don't. It was evil. Eeeevilll!

Of course, if I'd actually managed to sell any of the things I might feel differently. As it is, I was so scarred I no longer even call for pizza.

> but I think cutting off Spell Check to save
> energy

Well, if you ever decide to reinstate spell check, there is a good spell check program Spell Check Anywhere (SpellCheckAnywhere.Com). It works in all programs, including web, and blogs.