If you are like me and you cannot stand the rudeness of someone attempting to survey you over the phone, read on. I have found a - so far - foolproof way of seeing them off.
It is no use saying "I'm busy now" as the immediate response is "When would be a convenient time?"
I liked the Jerry Seinfeld technique: "How about you give me YOUR home number and let me know when you will be having dinner, and I'll call you then to discuss it, OK?"
What works every time because it gives them absolutely nowhere to go is a firm "I'm sorry, we don't do surveys". The "we" is essential, not "I". Shut all the doors so absolutely none of their scripted rebuttals work. It is polite, simple and rock solid.
And if for some reason they persist, hang up. You have no obligation to be polite to someone who is being paid to abuse the purpose of the telephone for their own financial gain.
Bookmark this post with:
is far more clever than it's tacky title would suggest.
but something did. Perhaps it was the sheer scope of the concept, the depth of the imagination, and the grandeur of the images that expanded my mind so.
taught me to care
but it was worth it to understand quality.
shaped my middle-age politics.
. It also made me laugh a lot.
but especially 
and 
, which I re-read occasionally with renewed pleasure.