Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Election Day is drawing near in Mississippi. Or, at least I hope so.I have noticed an annoying new trend in campaigning: the telemarketing technique. We get several prerecorded phone messages daily that go something like, "Hi, I'm someone you don't know but someone you ought to listen to, and I'm best friends with So-and-So Candidate, the most wonderful person in the history of the universe, and on Election Day (if you have a lick of sense), you'll join me in electing So-and-So as Mississippi's next Classroom Monitor Supervisor."
I'm getting these every day.
Now I'm wondering, why do these annoy me so? I mean, I'm all for democracy. And I vote. And getting one's name out to the voters requires, I'm sure, such mass marketing techniques.
I think there are two reasons they bother me:
#1: They are impersonal. I guess theoretically they aren't, but practically speaking "their" voice recorder and my answering machine are developing a nice relationship. Good for them.
#2: The only reason they care for me is what I can do for them (vote). Once again, theoretically this isn't true (they're running for office to help me out of course), but practically they only call to get something from me. They are consumers, and I am a product. They are salesmen, and I am a customer.
And now, sitting atop my high horse and having expressed my true feelings, I remember the Golden Rule and consider that I have some reordering to do in the way I look at people.
