At my wits end with telemarketers, I finally came up with a plan.

[mike_c]

15. telemarketing has completely changed my approach to using telephones....

First and foremost, it has changed a useful tool into a tiresome burden. I simply don't answer the phone any longer if I don't recognize the caller's number or if it is identified as belonging to anyone that I do not know AND WANT TO TALK TO. Telemarketing has taught me that I have no obligation to answer the phone at all-- just the opposite, in fact. Callers bear the burden of convincing me that I want to talk to them, and I won't pick up the phone unless I'm already convinced.

I disconnected my regular land line several years ago because it was so inundated with unsolicited calls. When I connected to Vonage VOIP six or seven years ago, those went away entirely, and stayed blissfully away for years, but now that line exists ONLY to trap unsolicited calls. I don't answer it, I don't listen to the messages, and I keep telling myself to get around to simply disconnecting it.

For years I resisted buying a cell phone, because I do NOT want to be generally reachable, but my GF convinced me that one would be useful and it has been-- we even got ourselves rescued when lost/stuck in the desert several years ago by making a cell phone connection. For the first several years she was the ONLY person who had the number, so it was no burden at all, and sometimes a great convenience.

Now however, because the Vonage line has been taken over by TOLL FREE NUMBER and the like, I've begun using the cell phone routinely, and lately it's been getting calls from numbers that I don't recognize. AARRGGHHHH! I've come to hate telephones! When I retire I'm gonna drop the cell phone in a river, and that's that. Or get a new one and never turn it on unless it's to call out.