Child neglect or smart parenting? Controversial reactions to Sheba commercial

Have you seen the Sheba Cat Food commercial where the kid says he fell and mom says to get a bandaid, he says he’s bleeding, she says to grab two? Well there are controversial reactions to that commercial, of course. I personally laughed out loud the first time I saw the commercial. After I saw it a couple more times, I still thought it was funny, but I had a sneaking suspicion that people would be all up in arms over the commercial. Guess what? I was right! Some people think it’s child neglect, I think it’s smart parenting.

I figured that one look at the comments on the Sheba Facebook page would probably tell me all I need to know. It didn’t take me long to find a post with a bunch of comments about this very commercial. And then it began…

The Sheba Cat Food commercial controversy

In case you haven’t seen the commercial, I’ve included it below. As you watch, do me a favor and answer these questions:

  • How old do you think this kid is?
  • Does the kid sound distressed when he says he fell?
  • Is the kid crying hysterically (or crying at all)?
  • Do you think that if the kid is able to walk in the house, that he would be able to walk over to mom if he were really hurt?

To recap the video: There is a mom relaxing on the couch, reading a magazine, and there is a cat sitting next to her. They are enjoying some quiet time together. A kid around 10 or so comes into the house and says from the other room, “Mom”, Mom says calmly, “Yeah?”, the kid replies matter-of-factly, “I fell”. Mom tells him there are bandages in the cabinet. Kid casually says, “I’m bleeding”. Mom says, “Grab two”. That’s it. I would assume that the kid patches himself up, heads back out to play and mom continues with her magazine. End of story, easily handled, no drama.

So back to the Facebook comments. Oh my…I saw plenty of claims of child neglect. Claims of a “lazy mother” and bad parenting. These commenters thought it was unbelievable that the mom wouldn’t get up off the couch. They said the cat was more important than her own child. That poor “baby” and on and on.
Word PUH-lease

Okay, let me preface this by saying that I completely disagree with these commenters. And for heaven’s sake – it’s a lighthearted commercial that is tongue in cheek. Why is everyone so damned serious?

People look for reasons to be offended

Someone in the comments said maybe it’s a generational thing and I think that might be true. It explains why we have so many millennials & young adults looking for something to be offended by. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but first of all, many of those commenting probably don’t even have kids. Now I have grown kids, so I’ve been around the block a couple of times. I learned early on that parents need to do a quick assessment in their head before reacting (as long as there isn’t screaming and obvious distress), then assess and act if necessary.

How should you react when your child falls down?

The problem with jumping to attention every time your little angel needs wants something, is that it just kind of becomes habit to them. “All I have to do is make a little sound of unhappiness and mom will coming storming in to make sure I am comfortable”. If a mother (or father) got up and ran to their child for every little sound of unhappiness (either real or faking), she/he would get nothing else done in life, and you can bet that their kids won’t do much for themselves in life. This is especially true with Covid and with many parents working from home. If mom was deep in thought on a work project, would people still be complaining that she is neglecting her child? Babies learn from a very early age, what works and what doesn’t when it comes to wanting mom and getting her attention.

So several people in the comment section on Facebook called this kid a “baby”. First of all, the kid sounds at least 10 years old to me – certainly old enough and able enough to get his own bandage, hence why mom said to grab a bandage.

mom hugging child

Mom hugging child – child neglect or smart parenting?

Here’s the thing – mother’s know their children. Let me repeat, Moms KNOW their children. Better than anyone. Mothers know when their children are in distress and they need to intervene, and they know when their child can handle things for themselves. Most moms know this at least. This kid did not sound distressed – he simply walked in the door and said I fell. She said get a bandage. Kid said, “it’s bleeding”, she said, “grab two”. Now, if the kid started crying at that point, no doubt mom would have jumped off that couch in a hot minute.

I have a question for those of you that are offended by this commercial. Say your young child (maybe three or four years old), falls down in front of you but doesn’t seem upset. What do you do? Do you immediately scoop them up and say “you poor baby, omg are you okay?”. The young child, seeing moms reaction, starts crying hysterically. You continue to tell the child, “you poor thing”, and go on and on about the incident (keeping it fresh in child’s mind).

OR do you observe your child, notice that he isn’t crying, upset or hurt, but he is looking at you to see your reaction before deciding what his own reaction should be. Mom’s face doesn’t show worry, so the child thinks, “Mom’s not worried, I must be okay”. Mom (or dad) says, “C’mon, I’ll help you up”. Kid gets up, Mom gives kid a quick kiss on the head. Nobody is in tears and kid goes on with what they were doing without any fanfare. Kid is FINE, and most likely learns to brush it off if he isn’t really hurt. Which means that in the future, the kid might be able to determine what is worth getting upset about that requires mom’s attention, and what he can deal with on his own.

As I stressed above, if a child is obviously injured or really upset, by all means, console and comfort said child. Nothing is better than mom’s love when you’re a child and are genuinely distraught. Heck nothing is better than mom’s love when you’re all grown up too – she and dad are the ones you turn to when you’re in a crisis, or hurting.

Here’s the alternate scenario for that same mother and child: Child falls in front of mom and IMMEDIATELY starts crying. Mom thinks to herself, “my child might really be hurt!”. Mom sees blood gushing down child’s leg and knows that this must hurt. Mom calmly says “let’s go get a bandage and get you all fixed up okay?”. Child sniffles and says “okay”. Mom holds child’s hand and she gets child all taken care of. Mom says, “I know that really hurt – you are very brave”. She gives child a big hug, child runs off to play, quickly forgetting they every fell. It’s called “falling off the horse and getting back on again”.

See the little girl in the photo below? She has a scrape and she’s cool with it. She probably got back on her scooter and went along on her merry way.

Child fell off scooter looking at knee

Are you raising a needy child or an independent child?

As much as we don’t like it, life can be rough. You will get scrapes in life. You will fall and you will get hurt – I guarantee it. The thing is though, that there won’t always be someone nearby to pick you up and make things all better. You need to save the tears and drama for the bigger stuff that life will throw your way. If you make a mountain out of a molehill often enough, everything is going to seem tragic. Life can suck sometimes, but you have to learn how to get back up and keep going. The above scenarios are teaching a child to be independent, and to not make a big ordeal about every discomfort. Kids will also learn that in life, you won’t always get immediate gratification. YOU are not the most important person in the world and the world does not stop for you.

Third scenario – child falls and screams bloody murder. Mom freaks out knowing this is very serious. She sees a huge cut and possibly a broken bone. She immediately scoops child up, hugs child and soothes child saying, “it’s okay…you’re going to be fine”. She strokes child’s hair and kisses child’s forehead. Mom knows this must hurt like hell. She tries to remain calm, but it is hard. Mom is extremely worried and almost in tears herself. She gets immediate medical treatment for her child, then when they are back home mom suggests they cuddle up and watch a movie and have a snack. Mom has work that she should be doing but this is more important and she knows this is where she needs to be. Mom and child snuggle and all is well.

Mom is smart. She knows the difference between her child falling and getting a boo boo (and not really hurt – probably just more surprised that they fell), and her child that requires her to stop what she is doing immediately and give her undivided attention to her child in need.

At what age should kids do things for themselves?

In my humble opinion, when kids know how to do something, they should begin doing it for themselves. It doesn’t mean you can’t help or occasionally do things for them, but when they are capable of putting together a lunch to bring to school, let them! Sometimes we get in the habit of just doing things, without stopping to consider that the “child” (or young adult most likely), actually can do things for themselves. And why wouldn’t you let them? If you have several children, let them all do something that is age appropriate. Take a minute and ask yourself (REALLY think about this), “What are things that I do for my child that are actually out of habit? Are they capable of handling it without my help?”. Start today – give them a few new things to do on their own.

child making sandwich

Children know how to work things, and they learn that mom will come running for every little thing if they play their cards right. This makes for NEEDY children who always get their way. They have learned that everything should go their way and that everyone should cater to them. Kids don’t become independent as soon as they should. They even feel entitled, which seems to be the norm these days. As kids get older (and many times lazier), it will only get worse, as they know how to do things, but they just don’t want to. It’s much easier to ask mom to do those things.

Don’t cater to your kids

Truly, the comments on the Sheba commercial post on Facebook says it all. When did parents become pansies? How did your own parents handle the same type of situation? Did they jump up immediately anytime you called for them? Probably not.

So what do you think about the Sheba commercial? Do you consider the way mom handled the incident as child neglect or smart parenting?

Since the child wasn’t crying and wasn’t distressed, how would you have handled it? Do you stop what you’re doing every time you are summoned by your child? What are some things you do to make your child(ren) more independent? Do you think the scenario in the Sheba Commercial is child neglect or smart parenting?

How stamps worked before forever stamps

Our 23 year old daughter is an extremely bright, witty and charming child (young adult, millennial, whatever). She lives with my husband and I, as she is attending college and is a pre-med student. Hooray! I often tell her to stop aiming so damn high- it’s expensive AF! Relax – she knows I’m kidding. We are very proud of her. But back to my story about the 3 cent stamp. A story that left me (and still leaves me) “baffled, bewildered and befuddled”. Is that how the song goes? Although at the time It sure felt like I was being bamboozled, beguiled and bullshitted.

As I stumbled down the stairs the other morning (no, I mean I literally stumbled. The jackass cat likes to sit on the bottom stair and right as my foot is in mid air to step around him he moves. Every.single.time…jerk). So I for real stumbled down the stairs and I noticed an envelope next to the front door. That’s where I usually leave the rare piece of outgoing mail for my husband to mail on his way to work. The only thing was… I didn’t put any mail there! Duh duh duh!

Upon closer inspection I see that my daughter was mailing something. How adorable!! She had written the address AND return address in a somewhat correct format, and up in the right hand corner of the envelope she had not only FOUND a stamp, but she had put it in the correct loca….wait. WTF?

3 cent stamps

The stamp on the envelope looked weird. No wonder – upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a 3 cent stamp. Well I had a lot of questions. But she was still sleeping. It must have been an oversight on her part. I waited for her to wake up (like any good mother would do), although I wanted to chuck a shoe across her room to make a little noise, but I didn’t. I vacuumed the living room instead.

 

What kind of mother would I be if I let her go through life not knowing how the whole frustrating stamp system used to work?

When she finally awoke on her own {*snicker*}, I approached her {cautiously}, and here is how our conversation went down:

Me: Mornin’ Sunshine. You have some mail going out?
Daughter: Mmmm hmmm
Me: Did you know that you only have a 3 cent stamp on it?
Daughter: Yeah
Me: (Silence)
Daughter: (Staring at me)
Me: Well it costs much more than 3 cents to mail a letter
Daughter: Like how much?
Me: Well I don’t even know anymore – somewhere around 50 cents by now I guess, but there are forever stamps in the drawer. Just put one of bad boys on the envelope and it will cover the cost of a regular letter. They are good forever, no matter how much postal prices increase. Neat, huh?
Daughter {semi-rolling her eyes}: Well then why do we have 3 cent stamps?
Me (thinking to myself: Oh gawddd this poor child. And poor me. This just turned into a whole thing. How could she not know this?? Did she really think a 3 cent stamp would work??).
Me out loud: Well because we didn’t always have forever stamps. Stamps used to have a set price…say like 32 cents.
Daughter: And so… why do we have 3 cent stamps in our drawer?
Me: Hold on. I’m getting there.
Daughter: (Big sigh).

She really doesn’t give a shit – I can just tell. But she NEEDS to know this stuff. What kind of mother would I be if I let her go through life not knowing how the whole frustrating stamp system used to work?

Me: So years and years ago, stamps were one price. The prices started increasing 2 or 3 cents every year or so, which was a pain in the ass. So if the price went up say 3 cents, the post office would sell 3 cent stamps too and so you’d put a regular stamp PLUS a 3 cent stamp on your envelope to equal the new stamp price. Or if the price went up 2 cents, you’d need a 2 cent stamp. BUT if the post office was out of 2 cent stamps, let’s say, then you’d have to buy a bunch of 1 cent stamps and put two on your envelope along with the existing stamp. Or you could put a 3 cent stamp on and just bite the extra cost.
Daughter: That’s really lame
Me: I know! And so the lines at the post office were always REALLY long for a few days while everybody bought the 3 cent stamps. Those who were smart planned ahead and bought their stamps in advance.
Daughter: you should have bought them onli…oh right (eye roll)
Moi: Imagine what it was like over the course of a few years! We had a drawer full of every stamp denomination imaginable, because there were always leftovers from years before when prices increased. It was never ending!
Daughter: That’s stupid
Me: And that, my friend, is why we have 3 cent stamps in the drawer.

 

Me: Yep. And you’re welcome.
Daughter: Good thing you caught that mom
Me: If you dig a little deeper I guarantee you will also find some 1 cent, 2 cent, and other oddball cent stamps too.
Daughter: (Eyeroll)

How did she not know all of this?
We didn’t always have it easier back in our day…

How much is is postage for a letter?

Okay I just had to look it up. Postage is now 55 cents to send a letter! Ridiculous!

I was curious, so a little bit ago, I looked in the drawer (because my little darling truly just doesn’t care enough to take a gander), and lookie what I found in there:

1 cent stamps

I knew it! I knew I’d find some old stamps hanging around.

My daughter asked me what I’m going to do with them. I told her I didn’t know, but I would probably just hang on to them. She said, “Why don’t you just throw them away?”. Whatttt? “Because, hon, they are worth money. Those little amounts add up” {of course I have no idea where to go to turn them into cash}. She let out a big sigh, and left the room, completely exasperated.

Do you have any old stamps hanging around, or is it just me? Please don’t say it’s just me!

Do you wash your hands?

*This post contains affiliate links
My hands are raw. People are dirty. This virus is annoying as hell. Can it just go away already? I’ve been staying home like I’m supposed to, I’ve been sneezing into my elbow {frickin’ gross, and even grosser {is that a word?} is watching someone else do it}. I have used hand sanitizer by the buckets. That shit is like gold right now – it is so hard to find in the stores and it is ridiculously overpriced online. I have started making my own hand sanitizer. But most importantly I have been washing my hands. A lot. So much in fact that even my knuckles feel like the toughest grit sandpaper. Here’s the thing. I am SO over this bullshit and so I’m going to need you need to cooperate too. I have a question for you…do you wash your hands as often as you should?

Please wash your hands!

Wash your hands

For the love of God…I beg of you…wash your damned hands. Use hand sanitizer. Most of all use common sense! I have learned that most people simply don’t have it. Case in point {and this is just one}. A trip to the grocery store a couple of weeks ago.

The six foot rule

The blue tape was on the floor, every six feet, leading up to the checkout stand. There was a couple at the register, a dude in front of me, and I was behind him on the third strip of blue tape. The dude in front of me was so restless, and ironically enough is the one who was lacking common sense. It was like he had ants in his pants. He and his cart were all the way in front of the line and before the people at the register were even done checking out he managed to shimmy his way up to the conveyor belt and was unloading his crap. I’m sure the expression on my face said it all {it said, “Dude, just wait a damn minute!”}. I can’t take the stupidity any more. Wash your hands bitches, so we can get this ridiculousness over with! If you feel a little foolish singing the Happy Birthday song over and over again, use this neat little tool that will help you create your own 20 second silly version of your favorite song. You can use it to wash your hands (and have fun while doing it!).

You’re not the boss of me

Listen, I have played by the rules for a long time now. I have stayed home for days on end. Did you hear that? I have spent one longggg monotonous day after another at home. Why? Because I was told to stay home. I don’t like to be told what to do, so you must understand that this is a really big deal to me. I even have a supply of masks that nice people have made for my family. I am wearing masks! I’m not fond of either of the above, but I’m doing them both for mankind, and because I want to help flatten the proverbial curve {there’s a term I hope I never have to hear again in my lifetime}.  I am, however, starting to  lose my proverbial sh*t. So…please wash your hands bitches.

wash your hands with soap

Wash, rinse, repeat

Sure at first it seemed like staying at home would be okay. I was all fired up to get some things done around the house. I was really productive the first couple of weeks {mostly out of sheer boredom}. I organized the hell out of a couple of hall closets. I NEVER would have given them so much time or attention normally. I have to admit though, my closets are pretty badass. I bought these amazing little hooks online and everything now has a place on a hook. Exciting stuff, huh?

I’ve done some gardening, lots of cleaning, lots of muttering profanities. Every day, I do more gardening, cleaning, and oh yeah, cooking. Wash, rinse and repeat. I.AM.BORED.OUT.OF.MY.MIND.  Can we please reopen the universe now?

Please wash your hands.

Love,
Me

Think twice before calling someone your BFF

Why do people feel the need to label someone “best friend” “BFF” or “Bestie”? I hate these terms with a passion, and I’ll tell you why.

I’ll admit, it feels nice when someone calls you their BFF. That is until you hear them address their other friends the same way. Wait…what? Why? Feelings can definitely get hurt over this. So much for that special feeling of being somebody’s BFF!

When you call someone your best friend, you are telling that person that you have other friends too, but none as special as him or her. It means something {or it should at least}.

don't call friends BFF

I have run into this several times recently and I get more and more annoyed each time. I tend to not call people my BFF, best friend, bestie or boo. Many friends are fair weather friends, so I try to keep my friends as just that…friends. Sure, I enjoy the company of some of them more than others, but they are all very dear to me.

I became close with a newer friend a couple of years ago, and it kind of made me happy when she said casually that I was her BFF. We enjoy each other so much. We “get” each other and have revealed personal secrets, we have laughed hysterically, and I can be myself around her. Imagine my surprise when she said on a Facebook post, that her BFF sent her flowers for her birthday! There was a photo of the flowers in her office and she was all smiles. They were lovely, but I didn’t send them. Hmmm, did she think I sent them? No, she has several BFFs apparently. I wish I had known that sooner. It isn’t a huge deal or deal breaker for me, but it does sting a little.

I have two other friends, both of whom I became quite close with over the years. One moved away, and the other friend and I hung out a lot. We had so much fun together, and although I knew I wasn’t her “bestie”, I knew I was special. Flip forward a couple of years and now the other two friends are “besties”. This is all fine with me, BUT when the three of us are out together, I think it’s rude when one of them introduces the other to someone, and calls her “bestie”. So I sit there feeling a bit stupid, frankly, as I am introduced as “my other friend”. Wow. Do they not know that this is hurtful and embarrassing? And using the term every now and them…okay, but it is all of the time, and it is just tiresome. I don’t get why their spouses don’t speak up when they witness this, and say to their wives privately, “Hey, you know that is kind of rude, since you were also close with _____”.

Don’t throw these words around…just don’t. Why can’t we just all be “friends”. Inside, you might prefer one friend over another, but keep that to yourself! Just enjoy your friends!!

All of the names that indicate someone is a BFF, just makes my skin crawl these days.

Oh, and it’s kind of juvenile too, especially for our age group.

Rant over!

Wow…after re-reading this, I sound more jealous than anything else. I’m really not – it’s the principle of the damn thing {and I am BIG on principle}.

Let’s not be politically correct, shall we?

I miss the good old days. The days when you could say whatever you wanted and nobody would blink an eye. Sure some folks might take offense when an “unacceptable” term was used, but most didn’t consider just about every word in the English language to be offensive.

What has this world come to that we have to think long and hard before uttering a word? Do people have nothing better to do with their time than to prey on unsuspecting “talkers”?

Words that are considered to be politically incorrect:

In modern versions of the song “Three Little Indians” taught to young children these days, “three little indians” is being replaced with “three little teddy bears” or “three little soldiers”. Really?

I am very short..like 5’2. But do I get offended when someone uses the term “shrimp” in every day conversation? No, I do not. Actually it just makes me hungry. I’m okay with vertically challenged, just for the record. If someone called me a midget (actually some friends of mine do), I wouldn’t take offense, only because I am not really a “little person”. Oh boy, this is all so confusing. If I were a “little person” and was called a midget, I would sucker punch that person right in the…balls.  Oh wait, is “balls” politically incorrect?

I can see some words that would actually be offensive, like retarded. I don’t use this word, as I have a tremendous amount of compassion for anyone who takes care of another who is mentally handicapped (I hope this is the right term?), or any disabilities, really.

Then of course, there are the ethnic/racial words. I DO know which words not to use, but I also DO get confused on what is acceptable from day to day. Asian American, African American, etc. What about Caucasian American? I really don’t like how divided we are. We are all JUST Americans. Unless said person lives in another country…but I don’t know what the “rules” are other places. Again, this all makes my head spin, and wanting to stab myself in the nugget with an ice pick.

politically correct, are you,offensive words

Some other politically correct words and phrases I have heard lately (and some absolutely kill me) are:

Hymenally challenged. YUP – you guessed it. It means those who are not virgins I guess. Why don’t we just say “virgin” or “not a virgin”? Or maybe hymenally challenged is better than calling someone a slut? I really don’t understand this one. I’m hymenally challenged – how about you?
Culinarily challenged. So instead of a husband saying that his wife’s food tastes like ass, it would be better to call her culinarily challenged. He had better learn to duck and dodge quickly, because I’ll bet she knows very well, how to use a cast iron skillet upside his head.
Person of Size. Because nobody will ever know that what you really mean is “lard ass”.
Living Impaired. It means…dead. Can we just say “dead” instead?
Thought Shower. When people come together to share ideas…because “brainstorm” is offensive to those who are mentally challenged apparently. My gawd…soon we won’t be able to use any words we have grown up with at all.
Fresh Person. Instead of Freshmen/Freshman. Oh c’mon!

To be politically correct, or not to be, that is the…oh fuck it.

Unruly kids and oblivious Parents

You know the type of parent that is completely oblivious when their kids are unruly, running amok, annoying other people, and are even possibly in danger?

They are great actors

I have no patience for those that make a habit out of ignoring their children. These same people usually assume that other people will watch out for their kids. And it’s kind of true I suppose…at least for me (when the child is doing something potentially dangerous – I can’t NOT keep an eye on him/her). But back to my point…

Unruly Children

They run.
They jump.
They scream.
They yell.

Which makes me want to scream and yell, and smack their parents upside the head.

In stores, they dart back and forth in front of my shopping cart. I cannot move. What I really want to do is “accidentally” run them over with my cart, but hey, it’s really not their fault. The fault lies with the mother (or father…but usually’s it is mom). I glance around trying to locate a parent, and I cannot locate one immediately upon further scanning, I spy with my little eye, someone who jut has to be the parent. This person is clear across in the produce section, nowhere near their child, and acting as if the child did not walk in the store with her and he/she does not belong to her.

The oblivious parent(s)

I will never understand how a parent can not only ignore what their children are doing, but that they don’t give two shits if their kids are bothering other people. I was always cognitive of this when my own were little. Hell, I figured if they were driving me insane, then they were DEFINITELY driving others inside. Not cool at all, so I quashed that behavior as soon as it began (or even before). Don’t even get me started on how easy it would be for a bad person to snatch these same kids up and take them. Although I’m sure they would be returned rather quickly. You chose to have children, so be fair to them, and keep an eagle eye on them.

Sure, shopping is a lot easier without the kids, but you CHOSE to bring your kids, so dammit, watch them! Christ.

unruly child

While pondering life’s many mysteries at a bus stop the other day (don’t judge), I witnessed a little boy, who was about 3 I guess. He also had a younger sibling in a nearby stroller. There was a huge fountain with a base full of water, and the little boy was leaning over the base, jumping on and off it and generally just making me nervous.

What was his mother doing? She had her back turned, and she was talking on her phone. Now call me silly, but you don’t take your eyes off of your kids at any time, but to have your back turned too, near water? I sat there dumbfounded, wanting to call the mother every name in the book: Bitch, Dumbass, Dingaling, A-hole, Moron, etc.

It always puts me in an awkward position when I see unattended kids. Do I say something? Well, shit, I don’t want to see any child hurt of course, but dammit, I have raised my kids and it isn’t my responsibility to carefully watch other people’s kids. My bus finally arrived and I assume that the kid was okay, but my blood was boiling.

I was in Michael’s a few weeks ago, and there was a little one, about 1 1/2 or 2, kind of standing/teetering in the front section of the cart. My first thought was, “Oh God, that child is going to fall out”. Now me personally, when my kids were little, I would have been holding their hand even when they were in the cart, as I looked at stuff. Before I even had a chance to catch my breath after witnessing this, the little one fell out of the cart, HARD, and hit his/her head on the floor and screamed bloody murder. You know what? I’ll bet the mother didn’t learn a damn thing from this. I imagine she STILL doesn’t pay attention to her kid at the store.

What the hell is wrong with people?!?! People – parent your kids!

Telemarketers Suck

I hate our landline. I would get rid of it if it weren’t for Brinks requiring it for our alarm system. Whenever the phone rings, I scream profanities, because I know it is nobody I want to talk to. Because of my husband’s job though, we have to leave the volume on in case anyone needs him 24/7. GAG.

Now I rarely answer the damn thing, but my curiosity got the better of me. Who was calling me from this phone number? I shouldn’t post it here I suppose. Whatever. So anyway, (cough) 707-200-7673 (cough) has been bugging the hell out of me. They call every.single.damned.day. I was feeling especially saucy the other day and decided to answer the phone when I saw their number on the caller ID. What the hell was I thinking? I know what I was thinking (and this is why I try not to think anymore than is absolutely necessary). I thought that I would just tell the fella’ to put me on his “Do Not Call” list. That sounds simple enough, right?

Put me on your “do not call” list

I’ve heard that the minute you say the words “put me on your do not call list” to a telemarketer, or anyone who calls you unsolicited, that they are supposed to immediately stop talking and say that they will. BAM DONE. Every single time that I have asked to be put on this list in the past when a telemarketer has called me, they immediately stop talking and say, “okay ma’am” {why do they have to ruin a good thing by calling me “ma’am”? It makes me feel really old}. They can actually call me whatever they want as long as they are doing it while on their way to putting me on that “do not call” list as quickly as humanly possible.

Where was I. Oh yeah. The idiot who called me.

telemarketer,solar company,harrassment,do-not-call-list

Him: {after determining that I lived here}, “Let me start off by saying that I am not selling anything”.
Me: Uh huh.
Him: Do you know how much your energy costs? There is a way to lower your ene…
Me: Please put me on your do-not-call list
Him: blah blah blah blah
Me: Put me on your do-not-call-list
Him: You are TALKING OVER ME AND NOT LISTENING!
Me: You are TALKING OVER ME – PUT ME ON YOUR DO-NOT-CALL-LIST
Him: Still blathering on and on

At this point we were just yelling at each other. I was getting pissed because they aren’t supposed to continue after you request this. But he did. Oh how he did.

Me: Put me on your damned do-not-call list, pretty please, with fucking sugar on top.
Him: I will put you on our do-not-call list, but first I am going to ask you a couple of questions. So your ener…
Me: You NEED to put me on your list!!
Him: I don’t NEED to do anything!
Me: FUCK YOU BASTARD!

And I hung up.

Dick.

I tried to go on the FTC website to update my information for the National Do-Not-Call Registry but of course the whole fucking government is shut down currently, so yeah, no, I couldn’t do that.

Fuck me.

Have you encountered a douche-bag telemarketer? Any good ideas to get rid of them?

Welcome to For Eff’s Sake!

Well for eff’s sake – how are you doing?

see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

You know all of the things you want to say on your own blog, but just cannot because friends, family, neighbors, teachers, employers all read it? Well worry no more! You can talk smack about them and they will never know it!

Yep, this is the place to just let it all hang out and say what you want.  Hate your mother-in-law?  Let us hear all about it!  Is your husband/wife an asshole?  Is your boss a real douche? Yep, we want to know the details.  Anything goes really, so feel free to let the fucking expletives fly and get it all out. And you can rest assured that your post will be anonymous.

Even if you aren’t necessarily mad at someone, but just have a secret to tell the world, this is the place.  You can use fictional names if you don’t feel comfortable using real names.  Of course, some people just deserve to have their real names used, but that is your call.

Submit your stories, secrets, vents, rages, fights, annoyances, and whatever else.

RULES (rules suck, but we have to do it):

1)  Check your grammar!
Don’t type in all caps
Make sure that you DO capitalize names, places, etc.
Proofread your posts before sending 

2) Racial slurs/references are not acceptable
3) Extremely vulgar posts may not be accepted

THINGS TO NOTE:

1) If you would like to include photo(s) to accompany your post, feel free to send them in your email
2) If photo(s) are not provided, we will add one or more to, you know, spice up the post a bit
3) You will have the option to allow comments or not allow them.
4) We reserve the right to make slight changes to submitted posts if necessary.
5) We also reserve the right to not publish your post if it doesn’t fit these guidelines

HOW IT WORKS:

1) Write a kick-ass post or a post expressing how you want to kick someone’s ass, or whatever.
2) Email your post & photos to: fbombs@foreffssake.com
3) Your post will be published asap!

REMEMBER:

All posts are anonymous!