Dan Djurdjevic

While I'm on the subject of direct marketing... I remember back in 1987 I was studying for my law exams. My nerves were frayed and my patience was stretched to its limits. My house mates couldn't stand me nor would they accede to my requests for a bit of quiet so I could memorize those damn constitutional law cases. When I finally had the place to myself I sat down with my books in the upstairs "study" (ie. the "box" room where we stored our junk). Then I heard a knock. I looked out of the window and saw 2 women standing at the front doorway bearing Bibles. It was about as much as I could stand. I went downstairs determined to tell them to go to hell and didn't they have better things to do, etc. Yet when I opened the door I was confronted with 2 sweet older ladies, both smiling gently like Dianne Wiest playing a doting aunt. Instantly my heart and resolve both melted. "Hello young man. Have you considered creation versus evolution?" the...

The day before Christmas eve I had a call from someone wanting me to participate in a survey. Now lately whenever I get some kind of unsolicited marketing call I've been doing the "right" thing: threatening to report them to the relevant authorities because I'm registered on the "do not call list". Since I've been on that list I have had surprisingly few calls, but some still get through - probably one every 2 months. Anyway, it's about 7:30 pm. The kids are finally asleep in bed and I'm planning on putting my feet up and having a bit of R & R. Then the phone rings. I pick it up and I hear a click and a whirr. A pause. An echo. By this stage I'm pretty sure I know what's happening. I prepare myself to give the telemarketer an almightly blast. Nowadays I've noticed that telemarketers give back as well as you can dish it out. They don't like us just as much as we don't like them. The last one opened with: "Co...