I've been busy, Phone banking

I participated in my second phone bank today. Mostly no one answered but there were a few friendly supporters. Last time I was able to convince 2 people who were undecided to vote for Obama and sign up 2 volunteers but none today. I got yelled at a couple times too. It's kind of hard to grit your teeth and say, "Oh I'm sorry I disturbed you, thank you for your time and have a nice day." But I do. In my sweetest voice. Gosh! How hard is it to say, "I don't want to talk to you, goodbye." Next time a telemarketer calls me, I'm going to be nicer.

There's one woman who I keep thinking about. She was around my mother's age and told me she was undecided. When I asked her what issue she was the most concerned about, she started to cry and said,"Jobs. I got laid off a month ago." I didn't know what to say. I felt like an intruder. At this point I wasn't about to go off with a list of reasons why she should vote one or another while this poor woman was crying- ok I am a human being. I just told her I was sorry and that I hope things get better for her. I said I understood how she felt, that I still have hope and not to give up. I'm not sure why she didn't just hang up on me for I would have, but she wanted to talk to me. She told me about how hard it's been for her lately and how stressed out she was. She asked me about my family, where I was from and how old I was. She was surprised, she said, because I sounded so much younger and that the youth in my voice gave her hope. We ended up talking for about 15 minutes because she wanted to know why I was supporting Obama and told me not to read from a script. Of course, I wasn't. At the end of our conversation she told me she would pray for me. She said she was still undecided and would make her decision after watching the debates but because of my phone call, she was leaning a little and she actually thanked me. Obviously I'm glad about the leaning but most of all I'm glad that I was comforting to her. I can't even believe that a total stranger with so many problems of her own would want to pray for me. This makes up for all the mean people who yelled and hung up on me.

(I'll be canvassing for the first time this weekend so if I come to your house, be nice to me. Offer me some m&ms.)

Why I hate talking on the phone

There's always that one person everyone calls when they feel bad. That person is always me. I feel good that people think of me and look to me for comfort when they're having a hard time. I want to be a comfort for anyone I love. But sometimes it becomes a drain. Especially when it's people who have so many unnecessary problems but don't do anything about it. Especially when it's someone who really doesn't have any problems but is just negative about every thing to the point where you don't even want to be around them. I start to feel like I'm being held hostage on the phone because I can't just say, ok sorry gotta go. Even though, and I feel guilty for admitting this, I don't want to have to sit there and listen for hours. I want to pull the phone out of the wall and throw my cell phone into the sea.


"Hello"


"problem,problem,problem.....misery,misery,misery."

"Really? That's too bad."

"yeah and guess what else, problem, problem,problem, misery, misery."

"Oh. I'm so sorry about that. Have you tried...."

"No because problem,problem,problem...more misery."

"Well I wish things could be better for you."

"Problem."

"Is there something that can be done to solve any of this or at least make you feel better?"

"Well problem,problem,problem,problem,problem. Plus there's misery,misery,misery."

At this point I still care, but I'm sick of it because I don't call people for this. I call to say hi-How are you- I miss you-I love you, not to dump and dump and dump all the negativity in my life on anyone. I have problems too. And when I'm sad or need support I'll say so but I don't use people like emotional landfills. If this were just a once in a while thing, I wouldn't even be complaining about it. It's almost everyday. Like I don't have a life of my own or something else I'd like to be doing than sitting here on the phone listening to problem after problem after problem without even pause to ask how I am. I'm beginning to feel like everyone just thinks,"Oh Angel doesn't work, she has time for all this crap. I'll call her and torture her because no one else wants to hear it. She doesn't mind." I want to be there for a loved one in need. But I don't want to spend my life talking on the damn phone about problems. Saying all this would make me a selfish bitch. This can't be healthy for anyone.

Recent conversation between Neenee and I

(Neenee is one of my older sisters-she lives like a gazillion miles away-needless to say we talk on the phone at least once everyday, sometimes twice)


Me: You know what I can't stand? When the phone rings and the caller ID says Blocked call or Private.

Neenee: I know right?!

Me: Like you're the f-ing president or something- you need to BLOCK YOUR NUMBER! Ooh your name and number has to be top secret!

Neenee: Omigosh I know-so dumb!

Me: You know what? I don't even answer, I feel like, if you're calling my house and you don't want me to know who you are before I pick up the phone, YOU DON'T NEED TO BE CALLING MY HOUSE THEN SMARTASS!

Neenee: Me either-you know what gets on my nerves?

Me: huh

Neenee: When people call and right after you say hello, they go, "Who's this?"

Me: So rude! How the hell hard is it to say-I'm sorry I looking for so and so-is this the right number?

Neenee: You know what I do? I go, "Uh-ah you called MY house, who the hell are YEEEW?"

Me: That's what I'm going to say next time.....rude people-I swear....




We had a pretty productive conversation I think