Betting on Losing
I hit a rather unique first-time milestone last week. I cried on the phone with a telemarketer.She was selling cancer insurance. Yes, CANCER INSURANCE. Basically, her company was betting that - by the ripe young age of 70 - I will have been diagnosed with breast, ovarian, cervical, or one of four other common female cancers. And she was attempting to assure me that - should this happen to me and my family - I'll want CASH.
I don't know why it affected me as much as it did, but I wanted to puke and cry at the same time. I tried to get off the phone politely and told her I wasn't interested. Then I told her again. And then I just broke down into tears and let her know that I couldn't talk about this right now because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Her gasp was audible and she just kept repeating 'I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry' - and I almost felt bad for her, because she was just doing her job. But how many households will she call where that is the case?
I can't bet on having cancer. I can't live my life that way. I won't. And if it happens to me, I don't want dirty cancer money. I want the people who love me.
And if that wasn't enough, THEY CALLED BACK. It was a new telemarketer, and she tried to convince me all over again. You'd imagine that tears and then slamming down the phone would have been flagged in their system somehow as a 'do not call back' or SOMETHING.
Ugh. I walked off my anger and shock (turns out I had around 12 km worth of anger and shock in me). I was definitely calmer after that, but whenever I think about it now, I feel like I need a shower.
Labels: My Life, The C Word
posted by Lindsay @ 10:33 AM
4 Comments:
Ugh. Just reading that made my heart sink to the bottom of my chest.
That's awful! What horrible things people like to cash in on these days. I agree with Aaron, my heart just sunk when I read that.
I'm sure this isn't all that's going to hit telemarketers but I have learned to just hang up the 'phone. I'm no longer polite like you. Now you know how I keep off my extra pounds/stress:)
I cannot believe that's what they're calling about now..and really, it's called "cancer insurance"??? How about just good old life insurance!!!! Imagine how much they love their job.
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