Lou Judice <judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com> (09/20/90)
I don't understand several of the recent postings in Telecom ... What is the point of putting bizzare messages on your answering machine to mislead some hapless telemarketing representative, when as Patrick states, A POLITE NO THANK YOU WILL DO! And exactly why would you want to even RISK interference with air traffic communications by using your cellular phone while taxiing to the gate on an airliner? Remember, an accident here may result in severe damage to your portable cellular phone (not to mention you). What exactly is this world coming to when we can no longer talk to strangers, and/or can't wait two minutes to get to make a darned telephone call? Sorry, I just don't get it! ljj [Moderator's Note: Sometimes, Lou, neither do I. And there you have issue 666 of the Digest. I wonder if the Devil made me do it. :) PAT]
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (09/23/90)
On Sep 22 at 22:07, Lou Judice <judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com> writes: > What exactly is this world coming to when we can no longer talk to > strangers, and/or can't wait two minutes to get to make a darned > telephone call? I would agree, but there was one time that I couldn't take it anymore and whipped out the phone anyway. To set the scene, you have to know something about the San Jose airport. Picture a sign that reads "San Jose Municipal Airport" and the "Municipal" is scratched out and the word "International" is scrawled above it. That describes the pretentions. OK, on with the story. I was scheduled to fly to Burbank (a minor flight) and the delays were mounting. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we regret to inform you [of another excuse for the flight being delayed]". So I went to the nearest Pac*Bell payphone to call my customer and announce my delay. It seems that all of the phones in the San Jose Cattle Airport are on some screwy carrier back to the CO on 95 Almaden Ave. And at that time, it was out of whack. Apparently the DTMF was being distorted to the point of unrecognition. It took several attempts to dial the call, and it was impossible to enter the calling card. The operator could barely understand me (from any payphone -- they were all the same) and so I gave up. On board the plane, we hit more delays and were informed that it would be at least twenty minutes before we would be in position to take off. That did it. Out came the cellular phone and a quick and easy call was made to my customer. Being fully aware of the RF ramifications, it was the least I could do to an airline that had really blown it. However, since we did eventually take off and arrive safely in Burbank, it apparently did them no harm. > Sorry, I just don't get it! Sometimes one can't help it. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
ace@lever.com (Tom Ace) (09/25/90)
In TELECOM Digest issue 666, judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com (Lou Judice) writes: > ... What >is the point of putting bizzare messages on your answering machine to >mislead some hapless telemarketing representative, when as Patrick >states, A POLITE NO THANK YOU WILL DO! Hapless telemarketing executive? No one is forced to take such a job. Telemarketers know they are calling people they don't know, who might be asleep, ill, eating, or otherwise occupied and who would rather only be receiving calls from people they want to hear from. >What exactly is this world coming to when we can no longer talk to >strangers...? The same place it has come to where telemarketers have lost a sense of what is courteous. It is the rare telemarketer who has asked me a question like "is this a good time to talk?". If someone wants to sell me something, they can send me mail which I can peruse at leisure and give all the attention I determine it deserves. Also, the general topic of "talking to strangers" has little to do with the vast majority of unsolicited phone calls. Strangers call me to sell me things, to take surveys, to solicit donations, and (about once a month) to ask me to subscribe to the {San Francisco Chronicle}. Only once has a stranger ever called me for the purpose of initiating a friendly personal conversation -- and even though he called at 1 A.M., I talked to him for two hours. Tom Ace {sun,pyramid}!hoptoad!lever!ace