Interruptions

This morning, I was trying to enjoy my son's birthday when the telephone rang. I thought someone was calling to wish him a Happy Birthday. But it was one of my credit card companies. Maybe I lost one of my cards and didn't notice (not likely). Anyway, it was a marketing company hired by my credit card company to try to sell me insurance. What kind of insurance? "Accident Insurance". I asked was that like life insurance, the customer service woman said it was more like if I fell through my porch and couldn't work.

The woman tried to verify my age so she'd be sure I was eligible. However, she was off by 4 years. I joked that I didn't appreciate how she made me older. Anyway, after I'd already said I wasn't interested, she kept talking. I told her I was scared of anything where the premium amounts weren't mentioned. That's when she said, "Well, I was going to tell you the cost, but that is when you interrupted me the first time." That's when I hung up the phone. Hanging up on someone isn't as satisfying as it used to be. I used to be able to slam down a receiver. Now I press a button on a portable receiver and place it on a charging station. I didn't say anything before I hung up, but I was thinking, isn't SHE the one who interrupted me? Didn't she call me on my son's birthday morning before I have to leave for work and interrupt my time with him to sell me something I don't want?

Okay, that woman is just doing her job, and I'm not saying I could do it any better, but I don't think I would even accept such a position where I'm selling people things they really don't need. If somehow that telemarketing job was the only one I could get, then I wouldn't keep talking when someone politely said she wasn't interested. So, maybe I wouldn't even be offered a sales job like that, since I'm not willing to be an annoying impolite person interrupting people and then accusing them of interrupting me. Even if I did interrupt her, I have ADD, and my brain works differently. I don't interrupt intentionally. When that phone rang, I didn't think, okay, I have to concentrate on not interrupting the annoying sales person. What really bothers me is not that the woman was trying to sell me something or that she's a telemarketer, but that she scolded me for interrupting her. She's not my relative or my partner or my friend, and I don't owe her any of my time. In fact, I'd given her more of my morning than I wanted to give.