As mentioned in a previous post, I'm working at a call center. Basically I sit there for fourteen hours a week or so, listening to the ringing of the phone and answering machines. And so, I have a little bit of advice and requests, for anyone with a phone:

1. DO NOT use the automated voice mail messages. You know the kind, "You have reached (the number). Press 1 to leave a message, or wait for the beep." The robotic voice gets so annoying after listening to it hundreds of times. Do everyone who calls you a favor, and make your voice mail personal. The best one I heard was "I'm making changes in my life, and if I don't return your call, then you are one of those changes." That one made me laugh out loud. Also, I like the ones that end with "Have a blessed day."

2. If you listen for two seconds to the surveyor (who is probably a poor college student like me), you might be ineligible for the survey, and they will never call you again. But, if you just hang up, or just hurriedly say that you aren't interested, they will call you again. So the only way to get a surveyor to stop calling is to either cuss them out (and/or threaten them), or to just answer their couple of eligibility questions, and turn out to be ineligible. (On some occasions, you might actually be eligible. In which case, resort to the former suggestion of threatening the surveyor).

Okay, to balance the slight ranting, I'll tell you about one guy I called who answered the survey. He was an older man, joking about every question and answer. Then I had technical difficulties with the computer and had to ask him if I could call him back. When I did call back, he said "Jaaamiiieee!!", all excited. And then when we did finish the survey, he said "Thank you so much, Jamie. I know you probably don't get many people like me, but I want you to know that you are doing a great job." Restored a little bit of my faith in my humanity.