Finally - my phone won't ring!

Bill Kalmar

Well, it finally happened. The late-night unsolicited phone
calls, the lawn signs, the brochures that clogged our mail boxes, and the
interminable television and radio commercials have finally come to an end.

Now whether you will be mourning or celebrating your voting choices this week
one thing is clear -- we will all be in a "robo-call free zone" at least for the
next year or so. Despite your political leanings, I think all will agree that
this is something all of us can support.

I suspect that a lot of us have subscribed to the "Do Not Call Registry"
which is supposed to curtail any unwanted calls to our home phones and our cell
phones. Of course the politicians who constructed this edict not surprisingly
allowed some caveats to the law, mainly that political calls and charitable
calls are excluded from the registry.

Several years ago we purchased a "phone call zapper" which is a small device
hooked to the phone line that automatically disconnects any computer-generated
calls. It works just fine except somehow it allows political and charitable
calls to come through. I guess there is a reason for the charitable calls, but I
have to be brutally honest -- we have never donated to a charity that contacts
us via a phone call and I suspect that a lot of you have done likewise. We
donate to many charities and recently sponsored several people in cancer
fundraisers. But don't call me at home and expect a donation -- it just won't
happen.

Speaking of political calls, I wonder how many of us actually listen to the
entire message. And insofar as those daily election polls that measure who the
voters favor, I am skeptical of the results. Who are the folks that actually
spend the time speaking to the pollsters -- certainly not us.

Exit polls are also under suspicion as far as I am concerned because I think
a fair percentage of people fudge their voting preferences just to fool with the
pollsters.

So here's my bottom line -- don't call me about a particular candidate or
issue; keep my name off the list of charitable calls; and don't ask me who I
voted for when I exit the voting booth. Now if only my "phone call zapper" was
portable so I could use it on those people standing outside the polling booths.
Wouldn't that be a hoot?