For the past few days, a number has been continuously calling me. I am not one who NORMALLY answers phone calls from strange numbers, or quite honestly even from numbers I do know, and usually expect the caller to leave a voicemail so I know why they are calling and I can then return the call if necessary. This number, however, kept calling me while I was in class, or in the library, or various other places where answering phone calls isn't quite socially acceptable, and never left a voicemail.
So I get home, and I ask my roommates if they recognize the number. I try to text the number back, as it is late, and get the response saying it is not a mobile number. So we CALL the number, and receive an automated message. What does the message say?
"You have reached the Bloomington Office for the Barack Obama Campaign for Change..."
Blah Blah Blah. I hang up at this point.
REALLY!? I mean come on. Let me start off by saying that NEVER throughout this entire election process have I expressed any interest into the Obama campaign, with the exception of hoping he beat Senator Clinton in the primaries. Not ONCE did I sign anything, stop to talk to any campaigners, or do anything to reveal any personal information about myself to these people that would suggest I was interested in receiving phone calls from them.
Let me go on to say that, even if this had been a call from the McCain campaign, I would not be any less irritated! It is beyond my logical reasoning why any person would suddenly change their mind and decide to vote for someone simply because they were being harassed via telephone by that particular campaign. We have also had countless people knock on our door, spout off several minute long speeches about their position with the Obama campaign and trying to register voters and etc etc, ending with the question of whether we know who we are voting for and if we mind if they ask? Our most recent reply "Yes, and NOT Obama, thanks anyways." (A reply which most often shocks them into speechlessness in a town made up of a majority of very liberal college students). Or there are the e-mails they are constantly sending, to which I finally unsubscribed. After navigating my way through the maze of a route to the unsubscription button it asks me why I would no longer like to receive the e-mails. My response to this? "Because I am NOT voting for Obama, have never expressed INTEREST in Obama, and DO NOT KNOW HOW I ENDED UP ON THIS MAILING LIST!" I think they got the point there.
Standing on the street, or inside a building, or anywhere else, stating who you are with, and providing yourself for questioning and the supply of information about your candidate and their policies is great, but when it comes down to people calling me on the telephone whose number they somehow obtained, I find it absolutely ridiculous.
At this point, despite who wins the election, I am completely and utterly ready to rid myself of this nightmare they call campaigning. Is this really how it should feel to have the freedom to vote!?
So I get home, and I ask my roommates if they recognize the number. I try to text the number back, as it is late, and get the response saying it is not a mobile number. So we CALL the number, and receive an automated message. What does the message say?
"You have reached the Bloomington Office for the Barack Obama Campaign for Change..."
Blah Blah Blah. I hang up at this point.
REALLY!? I mean come on. Let me start off by saying that NEVER throughout this entire election process have I expressed any interest into the Obama campaign, with the exception of hoping he beat Senator Clinton in the primaries. Not ONCE did I sign anything, stop to talk to any campaigners, or do anything to reveal any personal information about myself to these people that would suggest I was interested in receiving phone calls from them.
Let me go on to say that, even if this had been a call from the McCain campaign, I would not be any less irritated! It is beyond my logical reasoning why any person would suddenly change their mind and decide to vote for someone simply because they were being harassed via telephone by that particular campaign. We have also had countless people knock on our door, spout off several minute long speeches about their position with the Obama campaign and trying to register voters and etc etc, ending with the question of whether we know who we are voting for and if we mind if they ask? Our most recent reply "Yes, and NOT Obama, thanks anyways." (A reply which most often shocks them into speechlessness in a town made up of a majority of very liberal college students). Or there are the e-mails they are constantly sending, to which I finally unsubscribed. After navigating my way through the maze of a route to the unsubscription button it asks me why I would no longer like to receive the e-mails. My response to this? "Because I am NOT voting for Obama, have never expressed INTEREST in Obama, and DO NOT KNOW HOW I ENDED UP ON THIS MAILING LIST!" I think they got the point there.
Standing on the street, or inside a building, or anywhere else, stating who you are with, and providing yourself for questioning and the supply of information about your candidate and their policies is great, but when it comes down to people calling me on the telephone whose number they somehow obtained, I find it absolutely ridiculous.
At this point, despite who wins the election, I am completely and utterly ready to rid myself of this nightmare they call campaigning. Is this really how it should feel to have the freedom to vote!?
