Bizarre cold call from the bastard children of Mary Whitehouse
UK Flisters will already know who I mean, for the most part, when I mention Mary Whitehouse. She was a Christian who campaigned to 'clean up' film and television and radio when I was growing up. Glasses, stern face like a bulldog chewing a wasp, permed and blue rinsed in her old age. You get the picture.
Today I had the most bizarre cold call. It's left me slightly shaken, fairly shocked and wondering who the hell these people were and how they got my phone number as we're not listed in the phonebook.
The call began with 'Kelly' on the end of the line asking me for about a minute of my time. She asked for 'the lady of the house' (a loaded phrase that in itself left me with raised hackles and wondering what 'moral guardian' type group was on the line and I wasn't wrong either!) and then told me this wasn't a sales call and would just take a moment. She started telling me how parents of under-16s are often worried about violence and inappropriate content on TV and asked me how I felt about that. She seemed momentarily floored when I said I had no idea as I was not a parent myself and as an ex-journalist I might have views on censorship that differ from hers. My response prompted a diatribe about statistics on violence on TV and she wasn't listening to a thing I said at that stage, more or less just shouting down the phone.
I ended up saying I was ending the call and putting the phone down, slightly shaken. I'd love to know *who* she called for and I'd be having words. It's a call centre, as there's no traceable number after the call, I already tried.
So there you go folks, be warned. Put the phone down on this lot before they get too ranty.
Today I had the most bizarre cold call. It's left me slightly shaken, fairly shocked and wondering who the hell these people were and how they got my phone number as we're not listed in the phonebook.
The call began with 'Kelly' on the end of the line asking me for about a minute of my time. She asked for 'the lady of the house' (a loaded phrase that in itself left me with raised hackles and wondering what 'moral guardian' type group was on the line and I wasn't wrong either!) and then told me this wasn't a sales call and would just take a moment. She started telling me how parents of under-16s are often worried about violence and inappropriate content on TV and asked me how I felt about that. She seemed momentarily floored when I said I had no idea as I was not a parent myself and as an ex-journalist I might have views on censorship that differ from hers. My response prompted a diatribe about statistics on violence on TV and she wasn't listening to a thing I said at that stage, more or less just shouting down the phone.
I ended up saying I was ending the call and putting the phone down, slightly shaken. I'd love to know *who* she called for and I'd be having words. It's a call centre, as there's no traceable number after the call, I already tried.
So there you go folks, be warned. Put the phone down on this lot before they get too ranty.