I was reading a post over at The Grey Lady and now I am going to borrow her thoughts lol. It made me laugh my head off realizing that I don't think deep enough sometimes to recognize people's extreme reliance on govt at times... This in regards to the Do Not Call list that was set up for people to log their phone numbers in order to avoid most 'telemarketing' calls. Why DO people scream to the govt to provide such programs (spending our tax dollars while setting it up and running it of course).... ???
I logged my numbers there to see if it had any impact, but I didn't really stop to think WHY we 'needed' it. No one forces us to have a telephone, it is not a requirement of life. No one forces us to answer it either. No one forces us to stand there and listen to a telemarketer yap endlessly about a great offer.. No one says we can't hang up on them, or request to be removed from their list. No one says we have to listen to the cruise ship horn blast in our ears to tell us This Is The Captain Speaking... so why did so many people badger the govt to set up a national do not call list? Surely that tax money would be better used elsewhere.
I wonder how many people were hired to cover this 'service'? I wonder how much we are paying in wages, benefits, website costs, etc to run this program for something that every single one of us has the power to work with on our own? I wonder if a committee was started up, and a committee to oversee THAT committee in order to make sure the website runs smoothly? I wonder how much we pay them.. And is it worth it?
Should we be shelling out lord-only-knows how much money per year to make sure our phones don't ring in the middle of dinner? Or to make sure we don't have to pick up the phone and hang up on a newspaper agent? Maybe we should get a national Do Not Email list as well cos man, I have to sort through a lot of junk mail these days. A lot is getting through my filters and even though it is my choice to have an email addy, and my choice to use it to log into sites such as this one, I think maybe the govt should step in and help me. I'm really tired of hitting the delete button and getting 30+ junk emails per day. Something should be done about this! My eyes are crossing and my mouse-clicking-finger hurts. Maybe I should call my MP about that! Yeah sounds like a great idea!
* I should add that I do understand that there should be a place to report these numbers if you ask to be removed, if it's law that they have to adhere to your wishes, and then they violate them... but again it's our choice to have a phone, to give out the number, to have it published in a phone book that is available online or off to millions of people and companies.... so where do we draw the line between our own responsibility and the govt stepping in to help?
___________
Oh and another addition, Grey Lady's post links to a cbc article from July 7th that mentions 300,000 complaints have been received (I sent 2 or 3 of them lol), and yet only 11 fines have been placed. One thing the article does not seem to mention is that it's possible a portion of those complaints could be 'incorrect'. As in, you just have to fill out a form on the website and while it instructs you on what a valid complaint is, that does not mean people are not adding charities, newspaper offices, etc to the list. I would like to know if that is 300,000 VALID complaints, or if it is total complaints. While I don't care for the list really, I have noticed a great reduction in calls. They started up again in the spring but I handled them myself and now I am back to rarely receiving calls.. .maybe 2 a week and they are from charities so they are exempt from the Do Not Call list anyway. The Libs are complaining that this is handled incorrectly 'under this govt' and then I have flashbacks to the Gun Registry lol. Gee they did a great job of running that, so I'm sure they would have been better at running this stupid list ;) I think the fact remains that it doesn't matter WHO is in charge of running the list, it's stupid and a huge waste of money.
Kez - understand your complaint but beg to differ. A phone is an essential these days - ask any job-hunter who doesn't have one. My preferred solution is to either listen briefly to the spiel and then announce they are not on my 'do not have anything to do with list' or listen to the recorded bit, pretend I want the service, and then given answers that make it obvious I am just wasting a person's time.
ReplyDeleteI'm not getting the calls I used to.
Yes I agree that it is pretty essential in our way of life to have a telephone but I mean this more in the way that people are stretching their 'rights' in various ways and then expecting govt to protect and look after everything. It is not a basic need of life to have a telephone. If you do not have a phone, it does not mean your life and health are in danger. If you answer the phone and a telemarketer is blabbing into your ear, it is not going to ruin your happiness and safety, so why turn to the govt to expect them to handle it.And in turn expect thousands or hundreds of thousands, or who knows - maybe millions of tax payer dollars by now to support the system instead of it going to more important things.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have the courage to pull a Jerry Seinfeld on one of these people - where he says he is busy at the moment but maybe they could give him their phone number and he'll call back later lol. What? You don't like it when people you don't know call you at home?? lol.
They are an annoyance for sure, and I've had some be downright rude when I have asked nicely to be removed from their calling list. I have also recently started answering the phone by saying 'I am reporting this number to the federal do not call list' just to see if that works better. But no one is requiring me to answer my phone at any given time. No one is saying I have to listen to them. I can do any number of things to deal with it on my own, report to the Better Business Bureau, whatever.. but for so many people to cry out that their phone is ringing too often with frivilous calls and begging the govt to do something about it -- that just seems too needy and expectant. People want the govt to control everything and that is ALWAYS going to be a bad idea.
Thanks for the link Kez. :O)
ReplyDelete