Being Nasty… & enjoying it

I’ve been actually looking forward to getting calls from telemarketers ever since I decided to spice up the conversation by wasting their time as they are wasting mine.
Most conversations would begin as, “Good Morning, sir. This is Aarthi, (or Bhavana, Caroline, Divya, etc.) from ICICI (or HDFC, ABN-AMRO, Citibank etc.) I cut them off here, repeat their name and say, “Hi, Aarthi. A very Good Morning to you, too. How’re you?”
Most callers are happy to hear their name back though some of them are very professional and stick to their point of soliciting for a Personal Loan or Credit Card. These persons are quickly rebuffed and the call ends. But, a majority of them deviate from their purpose and do reply. And it is these people who make my day. Maybe they are happy to take a break from their monotonous existence or, think that they can convince me to go for their products or, like most females, are just plain dumb to realize that I’m having fun at their expense.
I talk about the weather (most calls are from local nos.), about their shift timings, ask them politely as to how they got my number (most of them mention a database – I’d like to strangle the fellow who made the database) and which part of Bangalore do they stay in. I’m surprised at how many people are happy to chat with me instead of going about their business. And finally, when they do come to the point, I just say, “Sorry Aarthi, I don’t need a personal loan right now but I’ll call u first when I need it.” Or “Sorry Aarthi, I already have a credit card of the same bank, but it was nice talking to you.” The call ends there but, I bet they are more cheerful when they dial up the next number. This is my idea of social service - bringing a smile to the face of some poor girl who is sitting in a cubicle for eight hours and talking to surly people.
If the caller is a male, I cut him off rather brusquely. Call me chauvinistic, but I just have no respect for a male sitting in a cubicle all day, wasting his life, trying to talk people into being interested in his products. If the caller is a female and refuses to fall for my bait, I am rather scornful and make it show in my words and when they disconnect the call abruptly, it makes me feel smug for a few minutes.
I have noticed that over the last few weeks that the number of calls I received from telemarketers have gone down from about 4 a-day to about 4 a-week.
Hmmm, I wonder why!!!