I have found that the most frequent callers to my business number are long distance phone service providers and stock market people.

The long distance guys are really annoying. There are a surprising number of them, and they ALL claim to be offering the cheapest service available if you switch over. God knows which one of them actually is the cheapest, it is virtually impossible to figure that out.

I got one once and she asked if she could speak to the person in charge of long distance billing. I said "No, I'm afraid you can't." She asked "Why?" I said, "He got so depressed with all the calls from long distance servers that he decided to end it all, and jumped off a cliff last week. Since then we have decided to give up on long distance altogether, and we only communicate by email, or failing that, carrier pigeon."

I still haven't sold the bridge in Coldwater to anyone, by the way, but I remain hopeful...

In the society I like to envision (a non-competitive one that does things not to make money, but to make things better) there would be no need for all this nonsense, and people would not have to be driven in desperation to such jobs as telemarketing. Nor would there be casinos, needless to say...since there would be no money to gamble for.

Ferengi go home.

- LH