I love these survey phone calls.
“Good afternoon, sir. I’m calling on behalf of a national research firm; we’re not trying to sell anything. We are conducting a survey on how people get their news. Would you be willing to take the survey for us?”
“Sure,” I say.
“First, a little demographic information. Does anyone in your household work for any of the following:
- a communications company?
- a media company?
- a newspaper or magazine company?
- a television station?”
“No.”
“What age range do you consider yourself in?” I stop him at the appropriate range.
“And what race or ethnic background do you consider yourself to be from?” I ignore the preposition at the end of the sentence, and resist the inclination to suggest, “From what ethnic background do you consider yourself to be?” “Caucasian,” I answer.
“Sir, how many nights a week would you say you view a nightly newscast?” I ask, “On television?”
“Yes,” he replies.
I say, “Never.”
[Pause.] “Never?”
“No, never. I don’t own a television.”
[Pause.] “Well, that’s all the questions we have for you today, sir. Thank you for your time.”
I guess he didn’t care that I get my news from the Internet, and the radio – mostly from NPR.
Joe called and twisted my arm to use his two free Fair tickets from work.
We ate, in this order:
| A grilled kielbasa, onions, and green peppers sandwhich. | Joe and I each had one. | $6.00 (each sandwich) |
| French fries | We split one order. | $2.00 |
| Deep fried cheddar cheese bites with ranch dipping dressing. | We split an order of these, too. | $6.00 |
| A root beer float. | I ate most of this, Joe had a little. | $3.00 |
| Fried dough. | We split this. | $3.00 (no toppings) |
| Butter pecan ice cream. | Joe ate most of this, I had a little. | $3.00 |
Just a ridiculous amount of food.