Telemarketers crack me up
I just got a call from a telemarketer. She offers real estate advice and even offer to visit me at home.
Really? My number is a (703) prefix, back from when I used to live in the east coast. I live in California now. So I ask her again if they'll come to California. Of course this is waaay out of their script so she shuffles and hesitates while trying to find the appropriate response. Eventually she says "so... you live in California?" --well, yeah, that's what I said 5 minutes ago; "well, we can send you some information there. What's your address in California?", she asks.
Smart! telemarketers are outsmarting me! Should I give her my address? uh, no.
So I say: "HA! so you can send me crap over the mail on top of calling me?". She replies "well, we can email the information to you, if you want". Crap! what should I do? give her my email address? uhhhh, no? "how about you send me your don't-call-me-again information, along with the add-me-to-your-do-not-call-list brochure?".
Geez. I can't believe this is a profitable business.
A very prickly subject for most people. Say something unexpected and most people freak out. This can be regarding religion, politics, sex, family, habits... well, the list grows long. If you say something crazy, most often people will open their eyes wide, raise their brows and say "what?".
There's a pervasive [bad] habit of not questioning your own beliefs. Perhaps most people think you shouldn't do that in the first place. Most notably, it's not uncommon for families and religious groups to implement this tactic. (Second-guess the sacred writings and you'll go to HELL FOREVER!) On the other hand, for the majority of the people it's rather just a habit. You're making assumptions all the time about what you like or not (because that's how it has always been - custom), or about what you're not willing to do (because it's just WRONG! - morale).
The problem arises when your belief is shaken by a compelling argument or just by pressure. Peer pressure to force you to take drugs or do something you don't want is a good example. If you don't know for sure why you do what you do, you're at risk of crumbling. Furthermore, you're unable to have a discussion about your point of view and unable to understand someone else's perspective, because you lack a perspective yourself.
I say questioning everything is healthy. I'm not saying "doubt everything just because" but "make sure you know why you think the way you do". It's the nature of scientific progress. Heck, it's the backbone of progress, period!
I'm not implying that progress means change. There are matters that have been polished one way or another to the point where little or no change is necessary (this is always an arguable statement). But for the most part, only the ones that have thought through their ideas and beliefs can claim to live a true life. Everyone else is just following them. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you choose, but did you consciously choose it?
I somewhat recently moved my software-related posts
elsewhere.
Good thing they're just a click away:
oops, sorry!
Today, a long lost friend* sent me a link to his
blog. He said I nagged him enough to set up one that he finally did it. Of course, he HAD to wait until he had a bazillion posts before telling me, so I wouldn't catch up. Ever.
There's another guy who I've been nagging to set up his blog, but he hasn't. His name is Derek, so if you see him, nag him.
Now, how do we get Max to blog on mindsay instead? hmmm. See, the way I see it, if mindsay gets a lot of hits, then I get beers for free. Very simple logic. You don't get it? ask Brian.
*He left the company I work for early this year.
telemarketers
