It’s already been established that I like messing with phone solicitors. I usually don’t get to indulge this hobby at work, but today was a fun little exception. Today I got a phone call offering a special, one-time-only credit card opportunity.
Thing is, it wasn’t for me. But I wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stop me. The caller launched into a well rehearsed, and slightly bored sounding blurb about what a great deal this was, then asked if she was speaking to “Shirley Wilson”.
Before I go too much further on this story, you should probably know that I used to do radio. I’ve got the stereotypical baritone announcer’s voice. They’d already heard it when I picked up the phone and said hello. And they still wanted to know if I was Shirley Wilson.
So I decided to play along.
“Yes, this is she.”
“Um… Miss Wilson, as you know, a major credit card can…”
“Mrs.”
“What?”
“I’m married.”
“Uh. Ok. Um… Mrs. Wilson, as you know, a major credit card can let you…”
“What kind of card is it?”
“Sorry?”
“I mean, is it a Visa? A Mastercard? Something else?”
“It’s a… Um. Look. Are you sure you’re Mrs. Wilson?”
“I have a cold.”
“Oh. Ok… It’s just…”
“Yes?”
“Well, if you’re not Shirley Wilson then I’ve got a different script I should be using.”
“Really? Is it one that you use if you’ve dialed the wrong number?”
“Yeah. Um… I’ll go see if I can find that… And I’ll call back.”
“No hurry. Take your time.”
“Right. Bye.”
>click<