Monday, May 15, 2006
So I was lying groggily on the couch this afternoon when the phone rang. Chaya answered and brought it to me.
"Mrs. Maven? I'm Officer So-and-So calling you from the state highway patrol. I'm letting you know this call is being monitored for your protection."
My heart started beating fast. I mean, what would you think if you heard that? What would be your first thought? Mine was, "UH OH."
He continued, "We'll be sending you a decal saying you are a highway patrol supporter. When you receive it, send us 35.00 and stick it on the back windshield of your car." (I love how he phrased that. Not, "Would you be interested in..." not, "We'd like to send you..." No, not in any polite way. In a commanding kind of way. And then commanding me to send them 35 dollars.)
I wanted to tell him exactly where he could stick the decal.
"My husband is the one who handles the finances in our house (huge lie). You'll have to speak with him, and he's not available right now."
"You can pledge 10 dollars to the such-and-such fund and we can speak with him later about the rest."
"No, I'm sorry, you'll really need to speak with him." Click.
I was so mad, I can't tell you. I felt like the call was purposefully intimidating at the start (state highway patrol, call being monitored). Then, he was relying on my relief to get money. (You mean nobody is dead? I'm not getting arrested? Hell, you want 35 bucks? Here's my credit card number! Take it all!)
Am I reading too much into this?
Love, Maven @ 
4 Comments:
At 9:27 PM,
n/a said…
I agree that this is hateful.
At 9:58 AM,
Anonymous said…
No, you are not being parinoid. It most likely was not the highway patrol. The higway patrol does not do fundraisers, that's what taxes are for. You were smart to hang up. I get these kinds of calls all the time where I live from the fire brigade, the fraternal order of police and so on.
At 11:11 AM,
Unknown said…
Oooooooooo, I hate when they do that. And then I always feel bad about hanging up.
At 9:01 AM,
shy_smiley said…
I never feel bad about hanging up. State Highway Patrol?! my kiester! Good of you to be so civil to this crackpot.
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