Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction
The following is a piece of writing submitted by Douglas on December 22, 2008
"Disclaimer: I made up the name Veterans' Fund of America. That was not the name of the organization featured in this story. :)"
A New Trend in Telemarketing
"Hi, Doug?""Yes?"
"This is Mark, calling on behalf of the Veterans' Fund of America. We're doing a fundraiser..."
"Let me stop you right there, Mark. I need to ask you: How do you know me?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Where do I know you from?"
"Uh...you don't. Like I said, I'm calling on behalf of..."
"Excuse me, I just need to clarify. You're not a friend of mine?"
"Uh, well we might be friends if we knew each other..."
"But we don't, and we aren't. Right?"
"Right."
"You don't know me from a hole-in-the-wall, yet you're on a first-name basis with me?"
"Uh..."
"Let me make this perfectly clear to you, Mark. I understand that pretending some familiarity by saying 'hi' instead of 'hello,' and using my first name instead of calling me 'Mr. Twitchell' is a good way to get your foot in the door, so to speak, and I'm sure your supervisors told you to do that. However, it is a very deceptive practice, and I find it quite offensive that not only do you waste my time with cold calls, but you also try to trick me into listening to your spiel. And since your organization will try tricks like that, I can only assume that you can't be trusted with my money.
"Please inform your supervisor that I have just added Veterans' Fund of America to the list of organizations I will not now, or ever, donate to or get involved in."
"But..."
"Bye, Mark."
More writing by this author
Blogs on This Site
Like us on Facebook to get updates about new resources