Ring, ring.
Me: Hello?
Telemarketer: Hey, is this Rochelle Koval?
Me: (Using my legal name is the kiss of death.) Yes, it is.
T: Hey, this is Josh from Dish Network. How ya doin’ today, Rochelle?
Me: Just fine, thanks. How are you?
J: Great, thanks for asking, Rochelle. Hey, so we’re over in your area giving some free estimates and we thought maybe we could hop on over and offer you an estimate for totally free satellite service.
Me: (How do you give an estimate for free service?) Well, actually, Josh, it happens that we don’t actually have a TV.
PREGNANT PAUSE.
J: (Nervous chuckle) Um, do you mean you don’t have a TV, like, yet?
No, I mean we don’t actually own any TVs, by choice.
J: Don’t you have even one TV?
Well, no, Josh, we don’t have any at all.
J: So like, not even one in, like, your bedroom?
That’s right.
J: Well, I mean, I’m just curious. Is it OK if I ask why?
Sure. We feel that the TV has a lot of language and values that we don’t want our kids (and ourselves) hearing and seeing.
J: (In deep sympathy) I see. Hey, well, Rochelle, you have a nice day now.
I will, Josh. Thanks. You too.
I like this post Ruchi and it's also a great reminder to represent the Jewish people honorably by being gracious to annoying callers.
Exactly. There's no reason to stoop to their level and be rude yourself.
LOL! Happens to me a lot too. I live in LA, which as a city, worships the god of pop culture and entertainment. I get a lot of telemarketers wanting to do surveys on movies. "I'm sorry, I haven't been to a movie in a theater in several years." They truly don't know what to do with an answer like that.
(Disclosure notice: I don't avoid movies or TV as a matter of religious principle. I grew up watching TV, and rent movies to watch on weekends. I just have limited time, a very, very tight budget, and high standards for entertainment quality. So going to the movies just doesn't appeal to me. I take movies from the library or occasionally stream TV shows online.)
Oh, and when I moved a year ago I left the TV behind, and the kids and I have hardly noticed it's gone. So much more fun to read a book or surf the web!
Or read my blog! 🙂
LOL, what a nice convo. I'm sure you gave Josh something to think about. I'm also impressed that he asked "why."
I usually just ignore telemarketers. My called ID will literally come up "Telemarketing." So I don't answer it. 🙂
In truth, every time I get a telemarketer, I just ask them to remove me from their lists (nicely) and I hardly get them anymore. But I can't resist that TV convo 🙂 My question: do they train them to say, "Hey" or is that a symptom of Gen X or Y or whatever we're up to?
When I tell people I don't have a TV, sometimes the first response I get is something like, "Oh, my brother-in-law has an old one that he wants to get rid of… I can get it for you!" And then we get to the no-thank-you-it's-a-personal-choice conversation. One of my favorites. People will almost always agree that the content on TV is, shall we say, poor, but it's as if they feel that they have no choice but to have a TV and watch it!
This is an excellent point. I’m not Orthodox (yet) so I do have a TV and Internet access, but I am trying to reduce my TV viewing. There’s a million things you could do besides watch TV. Use your imagination.