OT: Do you hate Telemarketters as much as I do?

[Tsyr]

Its called a social contract. We have obligations to to other citizens whether we like it or not. If you don't have any backup for the trash among us then you have nothing to complain about when they commit crime to take care of themselves.

I almost choked on my lunch when I read that tidbit.

Sorry. Crime is crime, and it is not OK.

Just because I did not buy the homeless guy on the streetcorner a meal, he does NOT gain the right to rob me with impunity, nor do I lose the right to complain about such.

 

[Ace]

By the way, Thomas tells me you're interested in even more GURPS. How's that going? (Thomas' job takes him off to different parts of the country for days on end, so communication is sporadic.)

[amazon.com mode]
Some items you might be interested in are Reign of Steel (sort of like a Terminator scenario), and Time Travel & Time Travel Adventures (it has both actual Time Travel, plus Paratime--like Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, for instance). Avoid buying Uplift, because they're putting out a revised version 4th quarter this year. From what I remember, you're buying a lot of the remaining Traveller supplements. (By the way, you DO know that I have a lot of the GDW Traveller stuff, right? The original Traveller....)
[/amazon.com mode]

Are you actually getting use out of the stuff you bought? One of the main reasons I'm selling the stuff is because I never, ever, ever used it, and I'm hoping it'll get some use. (Money doesn't matter, because I'm donating the money to charity. As soon as I find one that suits my interest....)

I collect GURPS books I doubt I will very use them but if not well there is always E Bay

I bought all of the GURPS book you had that I didn't except the four that Thomas found. I am going to get those.

The others I have alaready although I do wish you had another copy of Fantasy adventures. My copy got a bad crease in the back cover do to my mishandling. <SOB>

As far as the GDW books. I am not really interested in those.

I may be interested in the Chivalry and Sorcery in a week or two but I blew my extra cash on the Buffy rpg

Oh and as for a Charity may I plug Catholic Community Service. They are Tax deductable and do a tremendous amount of good.

 

[Ilen]

Sorry, no dice.

Picking up the phone is sorta what you are supposed to do when it rings... I have no way of knowing who is calling (Don't even SUGGEST caller ID... I believe I have already made my stance known about being forced to pay extra to prevent something that shouldn't happen in the first place), so I pick it up, hoping against hope it's something relevent. But I have no obligation to keep listening, despite what you might claim. I have every right to hang up, or to be an arse if I want to.

Rude? Yah.

Childish? Sure.

But, strangely enough, I've stopped caring.

I’m not saying you have to sit there and listen to the sales pitch, in fact I’ve said quite explicitly that is not what I’m saying.

My post was in response the comment that calling somebody is forcing them to listen, which it isn’t.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Oh Furn I apologize for the formatting here, I still haven't quite got UBB codes down.

No problem- Half of my posts are not readable due to my own rambling. Your format is hardly an issue.

Its called a social contract.

I can't not respond to this without getting political and getting this topic shut down.

My bottom line- you keep the social contract and leave me alone to worry about the concerns I am worried about.

FD

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Uh, no. They didn't force you to pick up; you did that under your own willpower. The discussion to listen to whom ever is on the other end of the line, regardless of who they are, is solely in your hands.

By picking up the phone you consent to listen to the other person, tis as simple as that. And as they have yet to develop a mind control machine that forces you to pick up the phone on their demand, they haven’t forced you into anything.

I think you're arguing just to be arguing.

While no one forces us to answer the phone, that is not an implicit invitation to be bombarded with calls from people with whom we don't wish to speak. Most of us have the phone for practical reasons, so refusing to answer it is not a good solution for most of us.

Unlike television, we can't know when advertisements will appear; telemarketers call at just about anytime. I've had them as early as 6 AM, and as late as 10:30 PM. Unlike magazine ads, we can't simply flip past them without being rude. The point I'm trying to make is that the very nature of telemarketing requires us to be rude if we don't want to spend the required time listening to the caller's spiel - and 2 minutes is conservative; I've had them go much longer, despite my telling them I'm not interested. In addition, many of us receive multiple calls per day, so that 2 minutes or more is multiplied. Also, when I say "rude," I'm including simply hanging up. I hate doing that to people, because I see it as disrespectful. But, as I said, I'm getting to that point.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Uh, no. They didn't force you to pick up; you did that under your own willpower. The discussion to listen to whom ever is on the other end of the line, regardless of who they are, is solely in your hands.

You are being ridiculous.

I paid for the phone line- it is not a public forum.

It is not paid for the convenience of telemarketers. It is paid for my convenience. I should not have to alter my life and how I use the phone due to telemarketers.

The moment they call me and force me to pick up the phone to find out who they are- they have used a resource I have paid for to intrude into my life.

But, as someone else as said- we are just going around the mulberry bush.

They are unsolicited advertisements that force my ear for any moment of time.

FD

 

[Ace]

I almost choked on my lunch when I read that tidbit.

Sorry. Crime is crime, and it is not OK.

Just because I did not buy the homeless guy on the streetcorner a meal, he does NOT gain the right to rob me with impunity, nor do I lose the right to complain about such.

On an individual basis, certainly not You have every right to complain and I will cheerfully help you to stop him.

However if the guy robbed you because you were too cheap to pay the taxes needed to cure his addiction to illegal drugs, or help a down and outer than you brought it on yourself.
If he can't work and can't get a meal he will do what it takes to live.
If you are on the wrong end than sorry Charlie thats life.

On an individual basis the bum commited crime but on an agrregate basis that crime would have been prevented by a social contract in many cases


Now no matter what you are still the victim! But for not providing a combination of strong law enforcement, community involvment and a sound social policy you share in the moral onus of his acts.
Its like leaving your keys in the car, it is your fault if you fail to take reasonable percautions to prevent crime. And yes paying taxes is reasonable.
Without a good policy you will have a a large amount of crime varied only by demographic trends.

If you have all three policys in place and a social fabric where drug uses is limited you can have less crime

 

[Furn_Darkside]

I hope Furn's home state does something similar soon, so he can go back to answering his phone.

I appreciate the kind thought.

Due to the others and yourself bringing to my attention the existance of these no-call lists, I have signed on to the New York one. According to it, I should be "free" of these entities after November 1st.

FD

 

[Ace]

They are unsolicited advertisements that force my ear for any moment of time.

FD

Thats is very true. Frankly I wish we cut advertising by about 60% and that especially includes Telemarketing

 

[Ilen]

If you tell them you aren't interested more then twice (My Brother-In-Law and friends work for a company that requires they be turned down twice), and they won't let up then you are fully justified in saying, "I'm sorry, I'm not interested I'm gonna have to let you go." and then hang up the phone, I do it myself. Hell, my Brother-In-Law does it and he's a telemarketer, if he hated being treated as such you figure he wouldn't treat others as such.

Really, as far as I’m concerned you are justified in doing your own, “I’m not interested please take me off you list spiel” and then hanging up immediately, possibly hanging around to say, “Thank You.” If they confirm that they are doing so, and then you hang up.

Trust me, a Telemarketer is simply gonna shrug and move on to the next number, it much more preferable then having somebody let loose with all their annoyance using four letter words at you.

If they won't let you go after you have repeatedly let it be known that you aren't interested they are being rude, not all telemarketers do this (For instance the company my BIL works for, in fact he can get in deep trouble if he doesn't let you go after 2 rebuffs), which is my point, not all telemarketers are the same and it is wrong to simply label them all as scum. (Just like it's popular to do with Lawyers based on the more visible ones, but just because it's popular doesn't make it fair or right.)