Never have I felt so much love … so much compassion … so much care for my well being as I have this morning.
cough cough …
You see, last week I was in a car accident. Nothing major (no worries, my fingers are still intact to keep writing blog entries!). I was driving down a neighborhood street where cars parallel park on the side of the road. While passing by, a little Geo decides it is a good time to pop out and say “hello”, right in front of my car. I slam on the brakes and make good long skid marks on the street. But alas, my car doesn’t stop soon enough. I hit the side of the Geo, breaking my front right turn signal and marking up the bumper. No dents to my car, nothing major. Her car on the other hand didn’t look as good. The point of contact was her driver door, and I put a good sized dent into the metal (or are Geos made out of Aluminum foil…)
We pull off to the side of the road as not to block traffic and wait for the police to come take an accident report. All-in-all, not a big deal. From the time that the cars collided to the time I pulled away to head back to my apartment (which was really only about two football fields away) about 30 minutes had passed.
Yesterday, I took my little red Honda Civic to the repair shop where they estimated the damage and kept it for repairs, giving me a rental car (nice Mazda 6) from the Enterprise Rental right next door.
The sad part is that this was my first accident. I have been driving since March 17, 2001 and regardless of it being my fault or someone else’s I had never been in an accident while I was behind the wheel. Oh well …
This morning, however, the accident took a turn for the annoying side. Between the hours of 8:19AM and 9:32AM I received three phone calls from clinics and lawyers (I think) who were extremely concerned for my physical and mental well being. “Please come in and get checked out. It is for your own safety…” said one caller. “Did you know that any accident where the cars hit at a combined speed of 7 or more miles per hour can cause physical harm?” another caller in a very caring voice informed me.
I told each caller, “I’m fine thank you.” But no, this wasn’t enough for a few them. They continued to spout off statistics and telling me that: No, you aren’t fine, you need to go to a doctor. Can you say …. annoying?
After the first call, I didn’t think much of it. I was on my way to work and wasn’t really concerned about one call. The second caller was the most annoying and persistent. After questioning him how he got my contact information, the following exchange occured:
me: How did you get my contact information? him: We got your phone number from the City of Cincinnati incident reports. Are you on the National Do-Not-Call list? me: Yes I am. him: Oh … well our business does not fall under the regulations of the National Do-Not-Call list. me: Ok, well I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.
Basically, I call BS. I don’t think these people are suppose to be calling numbers on the National Do-Not-Call list. A few minutes later the third caller rang and I told her that I had already been contacted two other times this morning and I would not be needing any of their services. She was kind and apologized (and somehow managed to sound somewhat sincere about it).
Just as a precaution that maybe my cell phone number had expired on the National Do-Not-Call list or if it had not gone through properly the first time, I went back to the website and resubmitted both my number and my Mom’s cell phone number (the house phone). And whether or not that made a difference or not, I have not received any more calls from those companies who really care.
Yes I know it is their job … but seriously. Cold calling is a sin.
</rant>
PS: Here are the numbers that called: Caller #1 [8:19AM 08/20/09]: (330) 454-3609 Caller #2 [9:13AM 08/20/09]: (513) 488-3535 Caller #3 [9:32AM 08/20/09]: (770) 980-0982
Right as soon as I was about to publish this post, my phone rings again. As I am expecting calls from unrecognized numbers (Navy related) I am answering all of them. I will continue to update this list as the calls keep coming in.
Caller #4 [11:41AM 08/20/09]: (513) 245-9100 Caller #5 [1:47PM 08/20/09]: (614) 317-0024 Caller #6 [2:25PM 08/26/09]: (513) 352-4710
I have received letters from the following offices as well. How many trees must these people kill each and every day just to fulfill their I’m annoying quota? In addition to the papers that they all sent me, and that were all the same … they wasted $3.08 in postage. Does the world really work this way?
Jimmy J. Lefton - Attorney at Law Clad Sigalov - Attorney at Law Gregory S. Young Co., L.P.A. - Attorneys at Law Shawn M. Stepleton - Attorney at Law The Law Office of Blake R. Maislin, LLC - Maislin Professional Center Barry R. Levy - Attorney at Law Magelaner & Associates **- Attorneys at Law **Rothchild - Law Office Vlad Sigalov - Attorney at Law