Pet Peeve of the Week

Okay, I'm very grateful that I'm one of the more fortunate Americans in that I can afford to pay off my charge cards every month instead of just paying a minimum amount.

And I must confess that I dread the thought of a day when circumstances beyond my control make this no longer possible.

Yet when I recently heard a telemarketer leaving a message on my home answering machine that said that it was imperative that I call him about a debt-reconciliation plan I don't currently need, I couldn't help seeing a little red. (No pun intended.)

Shouldn't such people have enough clients nowadays that they shouldn't have to go soliciting business through telemarketing? And isn't such solicitation a bit tasteless?

I realize that everyone needs to make a living but I can't help but think that there has to be a better way.

Or to put it another way, if businesses wanted my business that badly, they might try making it easier for a member of the public to contact them directly instead of giving us the chance to deal with umpteen different options on a voicemail system that rarely produces an immediate response.

The harder it is to reach the average businessman, the less I want to do business with him. And all the telemarketing in the world can't make up for that.