The Pursuit of Privacy

Where does your right to do political campaigning stop and my right not to listen begin? As an American who is very protective of my citizenship and the privileges associated with that status, I am often perplexed by the unfortunate circumstance of receiving endless unsolicited phone calls in the name of freedom of speech.

For fear of sounding less than charitable, I have a similar annoyance associated with the endless non-profits that call for donations of one sort or another. Just as I have the ability to answer or not answer these calls, I maintain my decision-making with regard to those organizations to which I make contributions, be they cash or unwanted items. But I am certain that I'm not alone in my frustrations about the endless solicitations.

As an exercise in articulating my feelings, I recently wrote a very specific and quite enthusiastic letter to one of the non-profits that continues to send me useless chatchkis. Sometimes they are day planners (I have my own, thanks), sometimes they are calendars of kitties (no offense, cat-lovers - I don't want to have a kitty-of-the-month) and sometimes they are note pads with clichéd messages.

The letter had a request: Please don't send me any more of your items. While I understand that your budget includes the sending of items with the idea that the guilt associated with receiving said junk will result in contributions, I don't do guilt. Save the money that your items cost, remove me from your mailing list and I will contribute to your (worthy) cause when I am able to do so.

After I sent the letter, I persuaded myself that I would never hear from them again and that I would reciprocate the non-contact one day by sending a donation. For several weeks I felt confident that I had accomplished my objective and that I had received the last of my "gifts."

Alas, it was not to be. There is no way for me to identify what happened to my letter. After my check was retrieved from the envelope, the letter was probably trashed or created an amusing moment for someone. Sure enough, my next freebie arrived, complete with a form letter from some executive, thanking me for my ongoing generosity. Ongoing? Generosity? Apparently, this group hasn't heard of goodbye.

But I am not to be dissuaded. When the phone rings from "unknown," "unavailable," or an unidentified 8xx number, I have begun answering the phone to have the caller remove me from their call list. Sometimes I feel as if I'm digging out the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon.

Regrettably, it appears that once you have donated to one organization, you magically appear on all of their mailing lists. Most likely, I won't take the time (or postage) to contact each of them. You can be certain, however, that my target group will continue to receive communications.

Stop sending me your stuff and stop calling me to vote for you. Both my contribution and voting decisions will be made on sounder bases than the frequency of your annoyances.