self-absorbed natterings

[oakenguy]

Okay, got my Yankee Swap gift at lunch. Also came *very* close to buying lots of other things, but wound up putting them back because they were either a) treats for ME, or b) items which I'd be much better off buying from the local comic book shop down the street than from Giant McEvilcorp.

I was also slightly wigged out from the clerk at the first shop asking for my phone number before ringing up my purchase. Yeah yeah tracking demographicscakes, it still feels slightly too personal to me.

Not that I have Phone Issues or anything, of course.

My Monday night improv class got cancelled due to low enrollment. I've been given the option of taking the section on Saturday afternoon, and it's tempting...but I'm already committed to something each Sunday afternoon, and I'm dubious about making my weekends too busy. Plus it's expen$ive. Plus I've already missed the first one. (Which, breaking down the sessions remaining, means I'd be paying...$25 a class, or $12.50 an hour? Ouch!*)

I dunno. I've got the urge to write, especially with this two week break coming up, but I have no idea WHAT. It's like I've got a line in the water, but there's nothing on the hook. Argh.



*I know, I know, I can already hear the folks who take college courses telling me to cry them a river.

Comments

[st-emma.livejournal.com]

I've never been asked for my phone number, but I have been asked for my zip code before. I usually just say, "You don't need to know that," and they'll ring up my purchase anyway. I can understand that they want to get a better handle on their demographic, but it just seems inappropriately nosy to me.

I don't know how I'd handle being asked for my phone number, which is even more privacy-invasive; I'd be tempted to ask to speak to a manager, because I think stores need to understand that female customers are going to have some concerns about giving out their number that men might not necessarily consider. Just out of curiosity, which store was this?

[devina.livejournal.com]

Muah - which puts you one step closer to getting into a class with ME!

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

This was Urban Outfitters. (Which in the mid-nineties was described in a comic book as "The Gap for people who want to look like they're on heroin". I can't ever walk past it without thinking of that line.)

[callunav.livejournal.com]

The pople at the registers in these places couldn't care less. Frequent conversations with me go along the lines of, "And may I have your zip code?" Nope!" Or, "Why?" They don't care. I gave my zip code to Trader Joe's when they were asking, because I *like* Trader Joe's and want them to know where I am so they can build a store closer to me. Other than that, on general principle, I generally wait for them to say, as they inevitably do, "You don't have to, it's just--" whereupon I smile amiably and say, "Okay," and wait for them to ring things up. Don't worry. You won't be the first person they've had that day who declined to give them information, and if you do it without ranting at them, they'll probably remember you fondly.

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

Never give out your phone number. You're just asking for telemarketing from the unscrupulous because they can now demonstrate a "business relationship" with you and they can get you for 12, maybe 18, months, despite the no-call list.

Zip Code is perfectly adequate for demographics.

[snowwand.livejournal.com]

generally when asked for my phone number, I come up with a combination made up of numbers from my various college dorm rooms, our home number, and my parents' unlisted number.

so it turns out to be something like 978-767-1074

I also use my old college address for things that look like spam or who might try to sell my address. I love remembering my worcester zip code :)