October 19, 2022: Cold Calls (2), the Most Wretched Call （勧誘の電話（2）、最悪の経験）

It was in my twenties that I received the most wretched cold call. At that time, I lived in a company’s dormitory. One day, the housemother came to my room to tell me that she had a phone call for me. So, I took the call. Then, the caller called my family name to check if he was not speaking to the wrong person. After that, he began to talk about his business. I heard it for a while, though I had been mad about him calling my family name. Thus, I found it soliciting something and slammed it down while he was talking. Ten minutes later, I was told by my housemother that she had a phone call again. I took it, and it was the second call from him. He ranted at me about my slamming down the previous call. I retorted that his call discomforted me since he should not have known my phone number. I also yelled at him, “It is you that is rude!” Then, he threatened to storm into my dormitory to complain to me and hang up. After that, nothing happened. He did not come to my dormitory.
It was a great lesson on how to respond to cold calls. Since then, I have tried to end such a call as quickly as possible without being uncomfortable.

一番不愉快な勧誘の電話を受けたのは、20代の時でした。ボクが独身で寮にいたころです。管理人さんから電話と連絡があったので、電話にでると、例によってボクの名字を使って本人確認をした後、用件を一方的に話し始めました。ボクは、名字を使われた時点で怒りを感じていたので、話を無視して一方的に電話を切りました。その10分後、管理人さんから電話とまた言われました。出てみると、先ほどの勧誘の電話でした。そして、ボクが勝手に電話を切ったことに怒りまくっていました。ボクは、「ボクの電話番号を知らないはずの人が勝手に電話をしてくるとは何事か。失礼なのはそっちだろう」と反論しました。そしたら、相手は「いまからお前の所に怒鳴り込みに行ってやる」と叫んで、電話を切りました。でも、何も起こりませんでした。
これが、この種の電話への対応ついていい勉強になりました。それ以降は、不愉快な思いをせずに、できる限り早く電話を切るようにしています。