my apologies to the News Sun telemarketer

You will see a link on the right column of my blog for "my local news". Clicking this link will take you to the Waukegan News Sun website. The News Sun is a local newspaper covering news around my local county. I grew up receiving this paper, reading it, using it to cover the bottom of my dog's cage, and occasionally showing up in it. I check it out once in a while to find out what's going on back home.

So the other day I get a phone call from my home area code while I was rushing to a meeting and about to hop on a subway. I answered the phone expecting a friend calling to catch up from home but what I got was my grandmother. Well, not my real grandmother but someone who could have been my grandmother, or anyone's grandmother for that matter. In her trembling, slow, old voice she asked me if I was interested in trying a new promotion being offered by the News Sun.

I literally stopped dead in my tracks. Yes, I could hear the train coming and I was late but I couldn't just brush off grandma like she was just another telemarketer. I listened to her promotion, then politely explained that I no longer live in that area, have moved to new york city and don' t want to receive the weekend edition of the News Sun. I went on to apologize that I was running late and had to go but to have a nice day.

My heart was broken, I pictured this poor lady who can't afford her medication and can't stand long enough to be a greeter at Wal-Mart, who has to take a part time job telemarketing for the News Sun. That could have been my grandmother! Who is going to let a grandmother do this!? She is probably beat up everyday by people who don't fear or respect their grandmother's as I do and could care less who is calling them. This poor lady, my heart goes out to you. And to the News Sun, what are you people thinking, putting this poor lady on the phones, can't she file something or stuff envelopes, something that does not leave her out there to be screamed at, hung up on, and verbally beat up by disgruntled recipients of her calls.

Then it donned on me, maybe the News Sun or whatever telemarketing company they hired has figured out that no one is going to hang up on grandma! That as soon as you hear that voice, human nature forces you to stop and listen to what they have to say, which in turn would drastically increase the amount of time this telemarketer spends with the customer and would no doubt increase the sale rates and convert to more dollars for the News Sun.

Is this possible? Well I guess of course it is possible. But is this true? Not only do I be impressed that the News Sun much less a marketing company in the burbs of chicago birthed this concept but that they had the guts to implement it. On top of that, they are really on to something in general. Not just hiring old ladies to do telemarketing because you just can't say no, but for all i know I was speaking to some previously out of work 23 year old struggling actress in New York City who just so happens to do a great grandma voice. She could have been sitting in a room in a call center not far from me making 10 bucks an hour acting like poor old grams and getting suckers to sign up for weekend service of a po-dunk newspaper from a county she's never heard of in her entire life, and I am spending the rest of my day concerned that I just took the insulin shot out of my grandma's arm!

or maybe that's a stretch. Nonetheless, anything is possible, right?