Phone Encounters

Telephone solicitation, long a plague in the US, is taking off only slowly in Italy; we get such calls only once or twice a month. One day, deep in concentration on some work, I particularly resented the interruption. I usually say goodbye politely and give them a chance to do the same, but this woman launched into the kind of script that is designed not to let you get a word in edgewise for five minutes. So I interrupted her brusquely with "Not interested, thank you," and hung up.

The phone rang again immediately - same woman, spitting mad. "I would never be so rude as to hang up on somebody like that!" she snapped - and hung up. I was angry, but also amused. I thought: "Honey, if that's the first time you've encountered a rude callee, you've got a long way to go in telemarketing."