I picked up a telemarketer call today.

[long pause.]

Telemarketer: Hello, can I speak to _____?
Me: He’s not interested. Please remove us from your list, please.
Telemarketer: [more casually] Yeah, um.
Telemarketer: Okay, thanks. Bye.
[More pause, then I hang up.]

Hey these guys have the worst job in the world, give em a break. Some people’ll go online to complain and look up do-not-call lists and some people will file in small claims court¹. Apparently, some telemarketing companies have a policy where they can’t hang up until you do, even if leave the phone. Of course, listening to whatever crud you might be playing is orders of magnitude better than harassing families at dinner. You think you’re doing them a favor, and you’re probably right. The world’s a lot less scary when you figure that people are people just like you.