Steve Rubenstein, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, has Proposed "Three Little Words" based on his brief experience in a telemarketing operation-that would stop the nuisance of
telemarketers for all time. The three little words are "Hold on, please." Saying this while putting down your phone and walking off instead of Hanging up immediately-would make each telemarketing call so time-consuming that boiler rooms would grind to a halt. When you eventually hear the phone company's beep-beep-beep tone,you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task. This might be one of those articles you'll want to e-mail to your friends. Three little words that eliminate telephone soliciting. When you get ads in your phone or utility bill, include them with the payment. Let them throw it away. Think globally, act locally. When you get those pre-approved letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and junk like that, most of hem come with postage paid return envelopes, right? Well, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little envelopes! Send an ad or your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Or a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their application Back! Just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them. You can send it back Empty if you want to just to keep 'em guessing! Let's turn this e-mail into a chain letter! Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting all their junk back in the mail. Let's let them know what it's like to get junk mail, and best of all...THEY'RE paying for
it! Twice! Let's help keep our postal service busy since they say e-mail is cutting into their business, and that's why they need to increase postage again!
Sorry to all the telemarketers and junk mail senders out there...
