So I just hung up on a survey guy, called asking me all sorts of questions about TV's and telephones. He said it was short, and I'm in a fairly good mood.
Then he asked me what ethnic group I classified myself with. He wouldn't accept "Canadian" so I answered "Viking". He laughed and said that wasn't acceptable either. But, I said, my ancestry is Danish and French and I identify with the Vikings.
Oh well, not going to get into all the politically correct crap on this, but the thing made me laugh. I wonder what agenda-driven nonsense that was coming from. I should have told him I'm part Utruscan - my mother's heritage way back is Italian.
The harping on the multiculturalism thing is a bit much. Geez, all you have to do is ride the subway to see how many places around the world are represented in this town.
I'm actually Canadian, but my great great grandmother's family moved here from upstate NY as they were United Empire Loyalists. They lived on one of the finger lakes. So does that make me American? See how silly that ethnicity question was? That was my point when I told him I was Viking.
See, this is the thing that bugged me. Canadian is my nationality, the survey wanted to know what ethnic group I associated myself with. It's this multicultural advertising thing going on. You can't just be Canadian or American, they want you to say something like Vietnamese or Ubangi so they can peddle their goods to the right demographics using the adverts they think will best sell.
Nobody's interested in a white-bread middle-aged woman who already has all their little gizmos and gadgets. He should have called somebody else.
This is making me laugh, KaeEll, because it's reminding me of a "survey" call I had about 30 years ago. I'll tell you about it in a minute, but PERSONALLY I like the Viking answer!
So, about 30 years ago, way back before caller ID, I got a phone call from a man who said that he was doing a medical survey for a special genetic project at Georgetown Hospital, here in Washington, DC. He asked me if I would take about ten minutes to participate.
Because it was supposedly associated with a local hospital, I agreed. This was also before the distractions of having any children, and my husband wasn't home from work yet either, so it wasn't really interrupting anything.
He began with the basic questions, like your guy did, KaeEll. He asked for my ethnic background, and a few questions about my parents, etc. Then, he began asking me questions like, "What color is your hair?", "How tall are you?", "What color are your eyes?", and that still sounded legitimate to me because it was a genetic survey.
However, I also began to notice that his BREATHING had changed, and I realized that I was willingly participating in an OBSCENE PHONE CALL...!!! A creative one, I'll grant you that, but obscene nevertheless. The guy was getting off on hearing me describe myself! I told him that I couldn't answer anymore of his questions, and hung up.
I then telephoned Georgetown Hospital, and after transferring me from department to department, I was informed that there was no such study.
I think that you may have been wise to hang up on this guy, KaeEll, before he got beyond the ethnic part of your conversation!
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Caller ID is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Yesterday, when the phone rang (the survey) it was a long distance ring, and I just pounced on the phone without looking at the number. When kids are far away, any long distance rings send me running to the phone.
Also, many years back we lived next door to this very strange mother and son who rented the basement flat of our neighbours' house. The son used to call the nanny I had living in and.....and she was Swiss with not much English, and it took her months to twig to what this creepy guy was doing while talking to her.
Whenever I drive past my old house, I remember that more than anything else. Thanks for the memory jog, Moore.
you guys are making me so glad that I never take these surveys...a lot of times I lie and tell them that I am not of legal age and that the legal person is not there
I really ought to do that, Shelly! Half the time people who call ask me if my mommy is home. LOL...!!! My voice frequently sounds like I'm still a little girl, so I really ought to start using that to my advantage.
[edited for typo]
-- Edited by Moore ideas at 14:40, 2007-06-11
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Oh, good idea. I can put on my little girl voice for that!
Do you also get a gazillion calls asking for donations? I made the mistake of agreeing to donate to the Shriners Circus fund or something a few years back (over the phone), and I got stuck on so many lists. Now I just ask them to please remove my name from teir lists and hang up. I donate at my front door when neighbours come by for the kidney, heart and stroke, seniors for seniors, whatever. Enough!
Oh, and politics! A coupke of yesrs ago I took out a membership in one of the federal parties to help a friend out who was campaign manager and whoa! They call me all the time expecting me to renew and donate. And those pesky vacation deals, just come for a dinner and a brief presentation, and you'll win a prize..... . Yeah, right.
I get a lot of people asking for donations for the police department...and I know its a good cause, but I am not from where I live so I am not going to donate to a police department that I dont know is doing a good enough job..
and my sister sometimes puts my niece on when these people call, she will talk your ear off.
