Telemarketers at the Grocery Store

by Anonymous

The normal stereotype about telemarketers is that they call you at home and interrupt you right when you’re about to sit down for dinner. But they got to me while I was at the store buying the ingredients. Somehow, a telemarketing company got a hold of my phone number a couple of months back. They were calling me all the time, but even then I couldn’t get off the list even though I kept asking to be. I’m almost certain this is illegal, and I wanted whoever was behind it to apologize and most of all for the calls to stop.

I blocked the number from my phone, but they were crafty and called me from another number. I was in the produce section of the grocery store at the time. I was carrying a heavy basket full of food and trying to answer the phone at the same time. I was expecting an important call. When it turned out to be the bad telemarketing people, I went crazy, yelling and screaming at the man on the other end of the line, who then got really defensive with me. I called him some inappropriate names in a very loud voice.

That’s when I noticed that a mother and her young child were right behind me looking at salad dressing. The mother gave me a glare for my language, and I felt bad. I had allowed myself to get so angry that I committed one of my number one pet peeves, talking loudly on a cell phone in a public place, and with vulgar language no less. I vowed from then on that I should be more careful with how I use my cell phone. Luckily, those stupid telemarketers never called again, so I suppose something good did come out of the experience.

Response from Dr. DeFoore

I know a lot of people can relate to your frustration with telemarketers. Thank you for sharing that sobering moment when you saw the mother and child behind you--those are the kind of moments that help us change our behavior, if we are ready.