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Same-sex marriage

Mariah

Thinker
M
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Messages
227
I wonder if some of you are having the same problem:

For the past several months I've been receiving phone calls that are making me crazy.

It's a recorded message from a "concerned mother" doing a quickly-spoken but long spiel about the sanctity of marriage being threatened by same-sex marriage. She begins by saying "please, don't hang up, and if at any moment you want to speak to someone, push pound and someone will talk to you." Three times I have tried to speak to someone. Once no one answered. The other two times someone answered and when I didn't agree with what they said they hung up in my face.

I'm neither a flag-waver for or against same-sex marriage, but the persistence of these people is enough to make me pro. Evidently they're exempt from the "no-call" list of telemarketers.
Any ideas?
 
Next time they call and you get a person, ask for the person's name, the number from which they are calling, and the company they WORK FOR (not the organization they are CALLING for).

They are required to give you this information.

Write the information down. Then tell the person you do not want to receive any more phone calls from the company that is making the calls or the organization they are calling for, and you wish to be put on their DO NOT CALL list. They have thirty days for your request to take effect, but if they call you after that, you can file a complaint and they can be fined and you can receive monetary damages. Ask them if they understand that when you tell them to put you on the DO NOT CALL list.

Note, I said you should have them put you on the DO NOT CALL list. Do NOT make the mistake of asking them to take you off their call list. There's no such thing as a call list. It's the DO NOT CALL list you want to be on.
 
I've never gotten an automatic political message deal on my phone. I feel neglected.

Is your state up for a referendum or measure or proposition vote on this issue soon?

As for Do Not Call, maybe this organization is a non-profit group. I think they are exempt, along with political campaigners.

Only people who are trying to sell you something can't call.

I have a "No Soliciting" sign on my front door, but some people think that means "No Salesmen". So I still occasionally get some petitioner or politico ringing my doorbell. I am thinking I should print up a sheet with the dictionary definition of "soliciting" and open the door, hand it to them, and slam it shut before they can speak.
 
Thanks, BP. What you describe is exactly what I did with other enterprises before the change in telemarketing laws. It worked nearly every time. The thing is, with these people, when they answer and I start to speak they hang up. That's what I don't know how to handle. They won't let me speak. Thanks for the advice, though. And anymore you may have.
 
The thing is, I can't find out who they are. And they keep changing numbers.

These calls began before the 2004 election and have continued off and on ever since. There was a lull of a couple of months recently that made me think they were done with it.

I do live in the Bible Belt, yes, but there are no upcoming referendums.

Upchurch, I am a member of the Unitarian Fellowship. I recall asking you quite a few questions about it before I joined. (And, boy, do I have a lot more questions now, all pertaining to woo woo.) However, I have not been active or even vocal in gay rights issues (except, obviously, for joining UU) and the calls began way before I joined.
 
I've found there is a very quick way to end such calls. You merely have to ask the Question of Questions:


"What are you wearing?"
 
I want to hear from them specifically how Harvey Firestein getting a tax break will destroy society. I want one specific example of how they will be hurt by this.

I think society is hurt by the havok caused by high divorce rates among straight couples should we ban it?

Being in the army I got tired of hearing how allowing gays to openly serve would bring on the appocalypse. If you beat your wife or get caught smoking crack the army will work with you on that but put a rainbow bumper sticker on your car and BAM unfit for duty.

On a side note putting my number on the Indiana do not call list was one of the worst things I ever did, now I get robot calls every day. It turns out the law is swiss cheese.
 
Mariah said:
Upchurch, I am a member of the Unitarian Fellowship. I recall asking you quite a few questions about it before I joined. (And, boy, do I have a lot more questions now, all pertaining to woo woo.) However, I have not been active or even vocal in gay rights issues (except, obviously, for joining UU) and the calls began way before I joined.
Click to expand...
I remember. :) I'm sure the two are unrelated. They're probably just blanket calling.
 
Anti wrote:

I want to hear from them specifically how Harvey Firestein getting a tax break will destroy society. I want one specific example of how they will be hurt by this.

I think society is hurt by the havok caused by high divorce rates among straight couples should we ban it?

Being in the army I got tired of hearing how allowing gays to openly serve would bring on the appocalypse. If you beat your wife or get caught smoking crack the army will work with you on that but put a rainbow bumper sticker on your car and BAM unfit for duty.

On a side note putting my number on the Indiana do not call list was one of the worst things I ever did, now I get robot calls every day. It turns out the law is swiss cheese.

Mariah writes:
I agree. I truly believe that eighty-five to ninety percent of straight married people cheat on their spouses, so the chances are good that those waving flags against gay marriage are flaming hypocrites whether they know it or not. For various reasons, including the ones you mentioned, it is those people who are a threat to the sanctity of marriage.

I did not have a problem when I put myself on the "no call" list in North Carolina. The calls stopped dead. This "same-sex marriage" pest is the first one.
 
Mariah said:

It's a recorded message from a "concerned mother" doing a quickly-spoken but long spiel about the sanctity of marriage being threatened by same-sex marriage.
Click to expand...

I really don't know if this will help you in any way, but perhaps it's a start? This is a link to a news story on one such company, but I don't know if it's the one that's bothering you.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=827643&page=1
 
Mariah said:

I agree. I truly believe that eighty-five to ninety percent of straight married people cheat on their spouses,
Click to expand...

Really? Can I ask what you're basing that on? If I were to guess a figure based on my own limited experiences of married couples, I'd say around 30%, yours is very high! But maybe you know some stats that I don't.

Regarding the telemarketing thing, I don't usually get any sales calls because I am registered with TPS, which is a free UK government service. Recently I have been getting calls from India asking for 'Mr McCartney', when I say there is no such person here, they ask me who owns the phone (I guess they are selling telecoms), I ask who is calling and from which company, and they lie. I know they lie because I get a different company name every damn time, so I can't report them to TPS and get them fined.

If anyone called me with an anti-gay agenda I would probably try and scare them off by saying I have a trace on the line or something. I would certainly report them to the police, but I think UK harrassment laws are different to US. Here, that sort of telemarketing would not be legal I suspect.
 
Thanks, Slingblade. The article was VERY interesting.

I just re-listened to the recorded message and she describes herself as a concerned mother of three small children. She wants to push for a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, as well as push for Christian rights in public places and other issues. The petition she's pushing will be sent to Orren Hatch, etc. If I could actually talk to her or "her assistant" as she says, I would be able to, I'd have something to say. So far, as I've said, they hang up.
 
Cleon said:
I've found there is a very quick way to end such calls. You merely have to ask the Question of Questions:


"What are you wearing?"
Click to expand...

I've done this before. You have to be prepared to get really nasty to make it work, but it usually does.
 
BPSCG said:
Next time they call and you get a person, ask for the person's name, the number from which they are calling, and the company they WORK FOR (not the organization they are CALLING for).

They are required to give you this information.
Click to expand...

We had a problem with one rogue telemarketing company in our area that simply ignored the law. The moment you said anything unresponsive they'd just hang up so you wouldn't have the chance to ask to be taken off their list. If you did manage to get it in, they'd just ignore it.

The deal is they make enough money that they can afford to pay some fines. Eventually these guys got shut down, but it was a long time.
 
tkingdoll, I am wrong to imply that I have some scientifically-acquired statistics on this, but I have seen these numbers. That exact figure came, I believe, from either the Masters and Johnson or Kinsey reports, both of which could be disputed. I should not be throwing statstics around like that. As a skeptic, I should know better.

I should have been more careful to say that MY IMPRESSION IS that 85 to 90 percent of married people (here in the Bible Belt, yes) have cheated at one time or another during their marriage. It might not have been a long affair, necessarily. The ones we hear about, ie, the ones resulting in breakups, are only a fraction of the ones that occur.

And believe me, most of the perpetrators I know of are big into the church thing, too.

But whether the statistics are that high or not, I find it laughable, laughable, I tell you, for heterosexual people, of which I am one--and a happily married one for 29 years--to crusade against same-sex marriage because it will erode the sanctity of marriage.
 
Mariah said:
tkingdoll, I am wrong to imply that I have some scientifically-acquired statistics on this, but I have seen these numbers. That exact figure came, I believe, from either the Masters and Johnson or Kinsey reports, both of which could be disputed. I should not be throwing statstics around like that. As a skeptic, I should know better.

I should have been more careful to say that MY IMPRESSION IS that 85 to 90 percent of married people (here in the Bible Belt, yes) have cheated at one time or another during their marriage. It might not have been a long affair, necessarily. The ones we hear about, ie, the ones resulting in breakups, are only a fraction of the ones that occur.

And believe me, most of the perpetrators I know of are big into the church thing, too.

But whether the statistics are that high or not, I find it laughable, laughable, I tell you, for heterosexual people, of which I am one--and a happily married one for 29 years--to crusade against same-sex marriage because it will erode the sanctity of marriage.
Click to expand...

Well I find Kinsey to be fairly authoritative, it is a rather depressing figure though. But then, I'm relatively newly married so I put an optimistic face on it!

Laughable? I could cry! The argument against same-sex marriage is beyond illogical, it's just plain ignorant. Happily, in the UK there hasn't been much backlash since the new laws but I have heard a few under-the-breath mutterings from heterosexual married bigots who can't mind their own business.
 
Well I find Kinsey to be fairly authoritative, it is a rather depressing figure though. But then, I'm relatively newly married so I put an optimistic face on it!


tkingdoll, statistics can be very wrong. They're not all done right, and remember, I'm not sure where I saw that, so slap me! slap me! for even saying it.

Good luck in your marriage. I have had a great one so far and I know many people who have. When it works, it's the best thing ever. I guess that's why I would want it for other-sexuals.

I wish the same for you.
 
Mycroft said:
We had a problem with one rogue telemarketing company in our area that simply ignored the law. The moment you said anything unresponsive they'd just hang up so you wouldn't have the chance to ask to be taken off their list.
Click to expand...
If that's the kind of company it is, then keep that police whistle handy near the phone.

Alternatives: Start asking really inane, stupid questions until they hang up.

"Can you tell me if the liver is a muscle or is it part of your skin?"

"Do you think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone?"

"Guess what I'm holding in my hand!!!"

"Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"

"If my computer gets a virus, will it make me sick?"

"Are you pretty?"

"If vegetable oil is made from vegetables and mineral oil is made from minerals, what's baby oil made from?"

"Guess what I'm holding in my hand now!!!"

"I'm not wearing any pants."

"How come eating asparagus makes your urine smell funny?"

"Do you think Michael Jackson is innocent? How about Michael Jordan?"

"You know who I saw yesterday? Elvis!"

You can also ask them all kinds of detailed questions about their agenda.

"My daughter is severely mentally retarded, so she's never been able to ask Jesus to forgive her sins. Is she going to go to Hell?"

"I love my son very much. He's the joy of my life. But he's gay. Is my son going to go to Hell?"

I recommend you go to the humor section and start a thread asking for questions to ask evangelistic telemarketers when they call. You'll have a dozen good ones in 24 hours.
 
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