Take Your Mask and Shove It! ( #BOTB results )

       Okay everybody!  Comply!  Wear your masks!  Stand in lines!  Keep your distances!  Forfeit your humanity!   Listen and obey!   The New World of the Future is coming for you!


Take Your Mask and Shove It!

Traditional Tragedy and Comedy Masks

        Ugh!  I'm uncomfortable having to wear those crazy face masks--not just physically, but mentally.  Something's not right here.  Looking around at all of the other folks in masks I am a bit disturbed.  Where exactly is this all going if we stay with this trend?  What will be next?

          You might be the compliant type who insists that everyone should be wearing a mask.  I say go ahead and wear yours if you wish.  Or better yet just quarantine yourself in your locked down house and wait until the world is a totally safe place for you.  Enjoy your wait.  As long as the power and water stay on you might be okay.

         About these masks though...

          After reading an article recently, I was reminded of something I had heard about a few years ago.  The word "hypocrite" comes from a Greek root word that refers to someone who is a fake, a cheat, or a liar which is based on the stage actors of ancient Greek theater who wore masks instead of showing their true faces.

           This article discussed how much we rely on facial expressions to provide some indication of the intent or emotion of another person.  As humans--as well as many animals--we use the outward appearance of a person to read what that person might be thinking which in turn might help us determine their potential action in a certain situation.  A mask covers that up.  It's not only difficult to read another person who is wearing a mask, but sometimes it's hard to even recognize who they are.

           Shades of masquerades!   Or perhaps banditry? 

           So today we accept mask wearing as a norm and even a requirement.  So how about another practical solution to maintaining order in society?  Maybe some kind of mark or number on each of us?  What a great idea!  No more ID cards needed and all of the information about each of us encoded in a mark that can be read by a scanning device.  The fast track solution to getting through security checks and moving easily about society.  Much easier than a mask too--you can breath better and it doesn't hide your face.

            If you don't mind the mask then the world government mark will be a breeze for you.  How about it?  Are you ready to accept that as well?


Battle of the Bands Results

        This recent Battle of the Bands contest between Dorris Henderson and Melody Gardot performing the traditional work song "No More My Lord" was one that I went back and forth on.  The guitar work in the Henderson version was appealing to me, but I preferred the vocals on Gardot's version.  The delivery of the Melody Gardot version was more entertaining and listenable in my estimation so that is the one I settled my vote on.

        At the outset it looked like Dorris Henderson was going to run away with the win, which she did, but in the end Melody didn't have too bad of a showing.


Final Vote Tally

Dorris Henderson        11

Melody Gardot              8



Next Battle on Monday June 1st

         Hard to believe that summer is almost here again.  For now I'll plan on doing this next Battle, but a break might still be in the cards for me.  Come back on June 1st for the Battle and maybe something else...

Do you have any special summer plans?  Or have you put plans on hold to see what is going to happen with the pandemic scam?   I'm not saying that the COVID disease isn't real, but the response to it is indeed a scam.  Have you figured that out yet?  If you don't think it's a scam then are you ready for that identification mark?

I Pissed Someone Else Off

Orangutan in Aalborg Zoo, Denmark  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        Since this is a very low readership weekend, for today's post I've decided to go with a rant of sorts.  This will maybe not be so much a rant as it is a precursor to upcoming posts leading to my Battle of the Bands coming up next Monday June 1st.  And I won't even bother to rant about the passage of time.  June already?  Somebody must be stealing time from me.  But let me tell the story.

        Last week I received a call from "Microsoft Windows Technical Support" to tell me that they were receiving error messages from my computer that indicated that my system had been hacked.  I get these calls once or twice each year and I'm sure many of you have as well.  Hopefully you don't work with these people as they are scammers trying to gain access to your computer.

        My caller ID had indicated that the call was from "Private Caller" and since some of my family members often seem to show up like that on my display, I went ahead to answer to call.  After I was made aware of who the caller was I asked for her to give me the business name, the phone number, and the address where they were located thinking that this would cause her to terminate the call.  Instead she gave me everything I asked for including an address in California.  I was certain, judging from her accent, that she was most likely calling from a call center somewhere in India.

        Advice that I had read had suggested using the asking for info tactic in order to cause the caller to hang up, but now apparently the telemarketing firm had caught on to this and had the information ready for the callers to come back with to the person they were trying to dupe.  This is a logical psychological tactic since many people who were already scared about the news concerning their computer would be more open to providing a caller information that was being sought about their computer now that they knew who the caller was and where they were calling from.

         Not to fall for any of this scammer shenanigans I told the lady on the other end that I would do some of my own research relating to my computer and would be calling them back.  Of course, I had no intention of calling back and I figured that would be the end to these phone calls for another several months.  This time however I was to be surprised by another call the following day.

          This time the caller was a man with an Indian accent who started off with the same phone pitch as the lady from the previous day.  I cut him off saying, "Do you realize how ridiculous this call is?  How would you even know to call this number in the first place?   This is a scam!".

           The caller immediately hung up on me.  This time I figured the calls would be ending for sure.  However, the next day at about the same time a different Indian accented man called with same spiel as the callers from the previous two days.   Before this caller could even finish I started laughing loudly. The absurdity was now too much.  As I was laughing I could hear the caller's voice demanding to know why I was laughing.  I was so amused by this third call that I couldn't contain myself and continued laughing.

         I could hear the frustration in the caller's voice as he continued to probe me as to why I was laughing.  Finally, I said with great amusement in my voice, "This call is so stupid!  This is all a big scam!"

         Now the caller was furious with me.  "A scam?" he shouted.  "You think this is a scam?"

         The caller continued to ramble on with an angry defense of what he was doing and why I was being foolish not to pay attention to him.  Instead of continuing the discussion I firmly let him know I was very busy (and at that moment I had been) and was not interested in his call.  He was highly displeased with me, continuing to shout at me as I clicked the off button of my phone.

         I had obviously pissed the guy off.   It seems like I should have been the angry party, but the guy who called was doing all the yelling.   This has happened to me before, not often, but on a few rare occasions.  Once an angry telemarketer even called me back to yell at me more after I had needed to disconnect his initial tirade. The second time I calmly let him know he was being highly unprofessional and that I was going to be hanging up the phone, which is what I did.   That time there was a number on my caller ID that I called back to report the telemarketer to his supervisor, but no one answered the phone.

        I've done my share of telemarketing in my life and two things that I've learned is that sometimes there are people who are not interested in what I'm calling about even to the point that they might get angry and abusive and one thing a telemarketer should never do is be impolite or argue back.  Even though I disliked much about telemarketing, I always approached the job in a professional and respectful manner.

         Actually the reason I'm telling this telemarketer story is that there was another puzzling incident that happened to me.    Also last week, a blogger got angry at me, or perhaps he's just an angry sort of person and I happened to be the one there at the time for him to unleash his anger toward.   Having a telemarketer get angry, though inappropriate, might be understandable.   But in this business of blogging, fellow bloggers should be a bit more reasonable and not lash out at others who are just trying to engage in a friendly manner.

         Maybe I'm wrong about this so I want to get your opinion about what happened between me and another blogger.   However you'll have to wait until my next post to hear about this story.  I don't want to upset anyone with an overly long post, so please return on Wednesday.

         Have you ever received a "Microsoft Windows Tech Support" call?   What was your reaction to the call?   What would you do if a telemarketer began arguing with you in an angry tone of voice?   Have you ever done any telemarketing work?

Related articles

• Telemarketer Theater: Right to the point
• How to tie telemarketers up in knots...
• Terminator
• Windows Technical Department

**FREE!***This Is Your Lucky Day!*** FREE!

           Yes indeed!  This is an extraordinarily lucky day for all readers of this blog!  You are going to reap the rewards of being one of my highly intelligent readers.  I am giving away valuable prizes today-- all free at no charge.  Don't miss out on this extraordinary opportunity.  You won't want to be left out on this one.  All you have to do is be a follower of this blog and read it every day of your life for the rest of your life.

           And now for the prizes:  Everyone wins wisdom, entertainment, information, and food for thought.  No real food, just food for thought.  And if you think I've misled you by my opening, then I achieved my goal. Did you come to this post because you thought you were really going to get something free?

            We see it everyday.  The advertising technique of offering something for nothing is used in all media. It's a sucker approach that I'm sure we all have fallen for at some time in our lives.  I have no real problem with contests and promotions as long as the parties offering them are delivering what they promise and not cheating people with the outright intent to defraud.  I do have a problem with sneaky tactics and two approaches particularly fit this category.   First we have the false billing approach and second is the official looking correspondence approach.

           The false bill looks like a bill in every way except somewhere there is the statement "This is not a bill."  The statement is sometimes in bold letters and sometimes it is noticeable only after careful scrutiny.  However, one could easily mistake it for a bill and send in the requested amount.

           When I was managing a business I would sometimes get these types of bills from various telephone directory companies.  In every way they would look like statements billing my company for a certain amount for one year's worth of directory listing.  We did not advertise in any directories so I was not fooled.  But what about companies where many bills are received and just paid as they arrive.  In the L.A. area there are as many as five or more directories and a business may be paying for advertising in directories that they have not requested to be listed in.

          Once, when I was quite busy, a uniformed man came into my warehouse and said he was there to inspect the fire extinguishers.  I did not question this because the fire department and the landlord both sometimes sent out people to inspect fire safety equipment. When he finished, the man came back to my office and had me sign a statement that he had been there to check the equipment.  A couple of weeks later I received in the mail a copy of the paper I had signed that had been filled in with services and charges with a due amount in excess of six hundred dollars.

          After checking the other businesses around me I found that not only they too had received the same sorts of bills, but that some of them had actually paid them.  I checked with the Better Business Bureau website and found that this particular company had numerous complaints against them over several years of operating in this manner.  I didn't pay the bill, but how many thousands of dollars had they made from unsuspecting businesses who just accepted their bill as legitimate.  The company had been gettting away with this scam for years, while also operating their regular business.

          The other deceptive practice is the official looking document or advertisement.  Many of you have probably seen the mortgage adjustment television advertisements that feature the clips of Barak Obama speeches.  I have never watched one of these in their entirety, but I can see the deception.  It looks like an official news or informational broadcast, but it is just another way to take advantage of people who are in trouble already by taking their last dollars and perhaps their homes.  The advertisements play upon desperation and greed.  Wasn't that how most of these people got into trouble in the first place?

          Then there is the official looking letter that you get in the mail that appears that it is coming from some government agency or some other official sounding entity.  Just yesterday I received a somewhat important looking letter that was labeled "IMMIGRATION POLICY INFORMATION".   There were urgent sounding warnings on the envelope about not forwarding or destroying the document.  At first glance it looked important, but it was a donation plea from Americans For Immigration Control.  This is not as threatening or advantageous as other pieces of mail I sometimes receive--- some seem to indicate that I need to send money or something bad is going to happen while others suggest that I will be benefited in some way if I send money.  I'm not sending money to any of these creeps, but how many unsuspecting individuals send money because of greed, intimidation, and plain old ignorance?

          There are so many scams operating in our country and out of the country directed toward American citizens and their wallets.  One has to wonder why these businesses are allowed to continue operating in this manner.  This has been and continues to be one of the major reasons that so many Americans are in financial trouble.  The education and warnings are out there, but apparently they don't reach the people who need this information the most.  My question for today is this:

Should the government--federal, state, and local--treat these deceptive types of practices as crime and vigorously investigate and pursue the businesses operating in this way to shut them down or force them to operate in a more acceptable manner?

          Deception will probably always be around, but it's a shame that those who can least afford it are frequently victims.  Businesses absorb the cost of fraud and we all pay for that.  It can even hurt the wealthy who are victimized.  But most of the time it's the average folks who are working hard who lose money to the charlatans of the scamming business.

           Have you or anyone you've known ever fallen for one of these types of scams?  Have you ever taken action against the perpetrators of these scams and what happened?  Can you defend any of the methods that I have described?   Were you lured into my blog post by my opening come on?