Pet Peeves...industry turnoffs..What ruffles my feathers...
This blog actually started out simply as a response to a blog by another AR member. We were chatting about a contest: http://activerain.com/blogsview/5040008/no-fooling-around-april-2017-let-s-get-real-contest
In it I was agreeing and talking about the fake phone and email solicitations I get…and more recently…the texts. And yes...even the old fashioned door knocks!!
Heck, I get text...phone...email...junk calls…all the freaking time! But my mail box is empty.
Morning…noon…and nighty night, night!
They are the Junk Mail formats of the new millennium! Makes me long for the good old days when the ads were a true handful but they could all go in the trash at the same time.
The nice thing about Cell Phones is I can block the number and not receive another call or text…from that number. The bad thing about the Cell Phone is that there are like a bazillion numbers and they can use any of them. So the phony, phone solicitors just fabricate another number in a few days. I have well over 400 numbers blocked on my phone.
I have been contacted myself three times recently by people saying I was soliciting them…even when I wasn’t…my number came up on their caller ID. None of our numbers are safe anymore.
On the flip side:
I have been pre-approved for a credit card about 1,357 times over the past couple of years. I have been introduced to the latest and greatest of anything you can ever imagine…I have stopped what I was doing right in the middle of it and let me say sometimes you should just finish your duties and not stop and listen.
but wait there is more…for a limited time we can offer you an app so that we will quit calling you…for only……first we need your address, ID, and to confirm that who we called is who we called…so if you would be kind enough to give us your accounts, ss#, and date of birth…we can be off to the races for you!! Yada Yada Yada!!
I actually have turned the calls into a game. Here are some of them.
Got the IBM one on our home number the other day…was at the kitchen sink…he said he needed to access my computer…I said I had an Apple. He said no…you have IBM. I said…”Dude, this is a freaking Apple…I know it is an apple…in fact it is a Gala Apple! I have been eating them for years!” And I took a bite of it into the phone and kept chewing…and chewing…Took a while but I got him calling me names and talking smack before he hung up on me.
Got another one on the home phone… I answered “Congratulations caller 5, you are on the air…do you agree it should be a felony to harass people via telephone?” click… “hello…caller 5 are you still there?”
I almost one hundred percent of the time answer the phone, “Hi, this is Mike McCann”. So it really sets my jollys off when the phone clicks and they ask for…’Mike McCann’. I typically do not show a lot of patience with those. My response may be: ”uhh…which Mike McCann were you looking for?” or “who wants to know”…or “I am his twin brother Michael…but you can call me Mick”. That usually throws them off a bit.
Now on to perhaps the scariest type of solicitors in my opinion. Door Knockers selling something.
Like vacuums, security systems, magazines, raffles, lawn care, or whatever. They can be in a tough pressured job that they can’t get out of…or they may actually be a slick willy who thinks they are a great door to door salesman.
Last fall, had a cocky guy selling security systems knocking on doors and telling us about all the burglaries on our street. I knew he was full of it as we can track that online.
Our next door neighbor has a brother and son who are both city cops and she babysits their kids so the two cops are in the area all the time. I hollered over at one of them and asked how many burglaries in our neighborhood...the cop son said none reported since last year.
I looked at the solicitor and said “Dude…he’s a cop…maybe you should find another neighborhood or better yet a different city.”
Still acting cocky and over-confident…or arrogant…(there is a slim line there)…He started walking into my garage and I said ... "It is in your best interest not to step over that line as you will be trespassing and I will file charges."
He said "what if I am the bad guy?"... to which I said I could get to my firearm faster than he could get to me...this time I told him to leave the neighborhood or I would call the police and file a harassment complaint. 
He actually left and went and got another solicitor and I saw them drive off with out of state plates and they have not been back. That was about 6 months ago. The weather is warming up and I have been working out on the punching bag just in case.
I could go on for hours, but I know you are busy…so thanks for stopping by. And if I do not answer your call…leave a message. I know that is old fashioned but it still works!!
This is our home...a peaceful looking place where most are welcome. FYI: We are protected by Glock and Remington in case some one who is not welcome needs assistance leaving.
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