The conversations are real, only the names have been changed…

At home:

Telemarketer: Hello, this is Jamie with Satellite TV company.  Do you currently have cable or satellite?

Me: We don’t watch TV.  We think it’s evil and keep it in the basement, to protect the children.

Telemarketer: Really ?!?

Me: Actually, our TV is in the basement, we only use it to watch movies on the weekend.

Telemarketer: I don’t really watch TV that much either.

Me: Kind of ironic, being that you work for Satellite TV company.

Telemarketer: Yeah.  It’s a job.

At work:

Telemarketer: Hello, this is Jenny with (consulting company, that I can’t remember the name of), I know your time is valuable, and you are busy with many IT projects, so I’ll get to the point…

Me: Actually, I was reading web comics.

Telemarketer: (tells me about her companies services, what they can offer, etc.)

Me: Well, I’m a one man IT shop, with no help and no budget.  I can’t even buy a replacement hard drive without approval.  I don’t think there is anything your company can do for me.

Telemarketer: Oh.  What web comic were you reading?

Me: Userfriendly.org.  It’s about a small ISP in Canada.

Telemarketer:  xkcd.com, science and geek humor.

She was right, XKCD is quite good.  You know, I think that’s the only time I’ve wanted telemarketer to call back (so I could thank her).