Ignorance Breeds Hate

Originally posted Feb. 2, 2006

In an effort to save the company some money (OK, it may not amount to much, but it's an effort nonetheless) and in order to prevent the needless wasting of reams of paper, I have undertaken the mission of removing the newsroom from unnecessary fax lists.

Every day we receive hundreds of faxes from companies and organizations that fall outside our geographical realm of coverage, and outside our area of news interest to boot. We get junk faxes (which I like to call "spax" in honor of what I consider to be fax spamming) advertising lower mortgage rates, discounted lift tickets, Disneyland travel packages, help getting out of debt, etc., and none of it -- NONE of it -- pertains to what we cover. Rarely does one of these faxes apply to our area. They're generally nationally disseminated releases and advertisements that go straight from fax to recycle bin, which usually produces a sigh on my end, because none of that stuff needed to use up the toner and paper in the first place.

So this week I decided I'm going to collect the spaxes and make it so we never have to receive them again. Yesterday I had no problem removing us from one of the worst offenders -- and they were very friendly and nice about it. No hassle, no difficulties, just bing-bang-boom and we were removed.

Today I called two more places and had no trouble with the first. But it was the second that reminded me how much hate there is in the world, and how it can seep into every aspect of someone's life.

The second place I called was Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. If you don't know Westboro, they're the people who protest every gay parade, dance and event in the nation. Most recently, they came out to Tracy (or was it Manteca?), where they protested a gay dance at one of the high schools. To give you an idea of their M.O., their Web site is godhatesfags.com. Every press release we get from them is filled with propaganda ranging from "God is punishing all fags for sinning" to "Fags have brought down the wrath of God upon us" (you get the idea). The release we got today was announcing their intention to protest at an Oceanside funeral for a soldier who died in Iraq. I guess he had something to do with the gay issue, although the release was fuzzy on that.

Anyway, regardless of the content of their mailings (they're entitled to free speech, after all...even if we don't agree with it), they just never send us anything of use within our area. So I called up the Kansas number and got a lady on the phone.

Lady: "Hello?"
Me: "Yes, I'm calling from a newspaper in California and would like to get us removed from your fax list."
Lady (already sounding attitude-ish): "Well, you're going to have to mail us a letter on your company letterhead, signed by someone of authority, asking to be removed."
Me: "Why is that?"
Lady (copping a full 'tude now): "Because you could be just any old person calling up to remove a number. How do I know you're not some gum-snapping person who just answers the phones and gets faxes off the machine? And you said you're a news organization, right?"
Me: "That's correct."
Lady: "Well then the only thing you should ever be receiving from our church is press releases."
Me: "Yes, we don't want those. We just want to be removed from the list."
Lady: "How can you decide you don't want something just because you don't agree with it?"
Me: "No, that's not what I..."
Lady (interrupting): "And how do you decide what you do or don't like whenever it's set before your dainty eyes?"
Me: "Excuse me..." (she's still talking, not letting me interject) "Excuse me!"
(she finally shuts up) "You know, I didn't ask for attitude, I asked to be removed from the list."
Lady: "You asked a question, and what you got was a very direct answer. Thank you. Goodbye." (and she hangs up)

It's no wonder these people are full of hate...it's so far embedded in them that they can't even have a normal conversation on the phone. I swear, I wasn't difficult or anything...everything I said or asked (up until the end) was said in a very calm and professional tone. But then she ups and chickenheads on me, dumping her cauldron full of Midwestern ignorance all over me.

I made sure to include in the letter the fact that whoever answered the phone was unprofessional and uncooperative, and I explained exactly why we want to be removed. That way, if they decide to post the letter on their Web site (as I've heard they're wont to do) and they edit out that relevant part, I have a copy of the real thing.

Sigh...it was just an unnecessary thing to have to deal with today.

Lacey commented: What the F*ck is wrong with some people??? You get 2 kudos for putting up with lame ass people...