So just before 9 PM, my new land line rings. Nobody has the number except those that grab the number from some CLEC. They know my name, of course.
Ring Ring!
*answer*
– pause to see if it is a voice activated robocall –
Her: Frederick?
Me: Yes, that’s me.
Her: Hi, I’m calling from non-descript charity. As you know, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month
*checks calendar and notes October is over*
We’re raising money for the ladies who can’t afford the medication.
Me: [interruptng] what about the men who get breast cancer?
Her: What? I don’t understand.
Me: Men have a higher death rate from breast cancer than women because it goes undetected because people don’t know men can get it
Her: oh, I understand.
Me: I don’t think so. I don’t believe you knew that.
Her: Bye! Gotta go!
Not to mention the revelation about two weeks ago that early detection has no affect on the outcome of breast cancer, and results in overtreatment of lumps that would not have become life threatening. The mortality from breast cancer comes largely from women in their 80s in nursing homes… Probably from the immune system shutting down to lack of vitamin D (my theory). The radiation exposure from mammograms is not benign.
I can tell folks plenty about breast cancer. I lost my wife to it. There are multiple types of breast cancer – some more treatable than others. Breast cancer most commonly appears in those women with no family history. Another little gem, chemo and radiation are medieval at best. True cancer fighting uses targeted molecular compounds that are custom created for the cancer cells. That treatment is expensive and is not always covered by health insurance.
When they call me about breast cancer – that is what I tell them and they usually apologize and go away.
The fine touch at work was when the women known to be gunning for any reason to file a sex discrimination lawsuit would come around selling pink ribbons.
One of the reasons I saw no future at Nasdaq was the HR training on sexual harrassment. The two women teaching the class announced that in the event we did commit sexual harrassment in their opinion, the company would not defend us – and they had never had a case where the men were not guilty.
Because my last name is Spanish I tend to get a lot of Spanish telemarketers. I answer them in Vietnamese and you can feel them choking in the background. Not long ago I had a Vietnamese telemarketer and I answered in Hebrew. Again, that pregnant silence. Some of my fun come when Jehovah’s Witnesses come to my door on weekends. I will ask them to tell me the meaning of a certain prophesy, but I read it in Hebrew. Of course they have no idea what I am saying and they get all flustered. I also enjoy email from those princes in Nigeria. When you are retired, you have lots of time.
I’m getting an increasing number of job opportunities via email from people with Asian sounding names