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There is no need for alarm clocks as long as there are telemarketers. Instead of waking up to the buzzing of my clock where I can quickly hit the snooze button and drift back to dreamland, I hear the phone ringing and ringing and ringing. I know that the only person evil enough to wake me up at 8 a.m. would be a telemarketer but I can’t help it; I have to answer the phone. There is always the slight chance that someone important might actually be calling but no, it’s always a telemarketer.
If I were coherent at 8 a.m. I would yell at them, beg them not to call back, but all I can muster is a meager “Huh? No, she’s not here,” and hang up.
Between me and my roommate the amount of soliciting phone calls we receive is ridiculous. The phone rang eight times one day. Every time I thought I’d actually get to talk to someone who could pronounce my last name. But no, seven out of those eight calls were telemarketers. MCI, AT&T, Verizon, Adelphia, AOL, Exxon.you name them, they’ve called my apartment.
You’d be amazed at all the interesting ways people come up with to pronounce my name, especially southerners. You’d think they’ve never seen a French name in their lives. Imagine if your name was “Phuc” and you were a telemarketer and that name popped up on your screen. Well it happened to a friend of mine. Needless to say, the guy wasn’t too impressed with her pronunciation.
And another thing: every telemarketer thinks I’m married. They ask for me, I lie and say I’m not home and then they ask for my husband, Mr. Michaud. Sorry, but the only Mr. Michaud I know is my dad. I’m 20 and I’m not married. Telemarketers shouldn’t assume everyone they call is married, especially with all the different types of “unions” that exist nowadays.
I love living off campus but if I could move back into the dorms it would be so I wouldn’t have to deal with telemarketers. Two years in a residence hall and I never had one call. Seven months in an apartment and I’ve answered about 60.
I am a college student and the last thing I can afford is 30 credit cards, digital cable, a high-speed modem and a long distance calling plan. Stop calling me and every other college student. I don’t have long distance calling for a reason – Wal-Mart calling cards are all I can afford. And yes, having only 13 channels for cable sucks but I’m not about to take out another loan to foot the bill for ten channels of ESPN.
I know it’s their job and those monotone voices have feelings too. I remember a friend who was once a telemarketer telling me, “dude, there are only so many times you can be called the “C” word before you want to quit.” So I’ll refrain from cursing them out and let my phone be my alarm clock, minus the precious snooze button.
Kelly Michaud is a junior journalism major.
