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Dear dimwit on the phone

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Starman, Jan 21, 2010.

  1. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Should have specified the group of kids were in the stands, not players.
    Funny thing is, one of them ended up walking on for on season at San Francisco.
     
  2. Spartan Squad

    Spartan Squad Well-Known Member

    I just face palmed and it wasn't the customer's fault:

    Customer: Hi, I'm here to meet with Ad Rep, I have an appointment.
    Receptionist: Is she expecting you?

    I don't think the customer heard her because he didn't have a Jeff Foxworthy "here's your sign" response.
     
  3. Kolchak

    Kolchak Active Member

    I might be repeating stuff I've already posted here, but have you ever gotten a pompous caller who thought it was "your job" to answer any and all questions he had? The ones I've gotten are always repeat callers who don't even subscribe to the paper but think they're entitled to call you 200 times a year. Not sure how profitable a "look up all your questions on the internet to answer them" job position is when that service goes toward people who don't contribute one penny to the newspaper.

    One was a teenager who would call every day asking for all sorts of random things including the starting lineups of both teams in the Super Bowl. He couldn't even explain to me why he needed those lineups. Another one is some guy who doesn't even live in the state but keeps calling to ask about the local university's sports teams. Every time he calls he has to explain that he's out of state and therefore has absolutely no access whatsoever to information about a major Division I program.
     
  4. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    He should have said that he was, then at the end of the game, announce that he had wasted his time and that none of the kids he saw had college-level talent.

    Now that would have been mean.
     
  5. Kolchak

    Kolchak Active Member

    Have you ever gotten a call asking if a football stadium had a retractable roof? Seems like the strangest thing to ask since football plays in all sorts of weather, but I've gotten calls asking that very question and it was a different person each time.
     
  6. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Well, if we're talking NFL stadiums, there's several of them that do. Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas and Arizona are all retractable domes.
     
  7. Kolchak

    Kolchak Active Member

    Oops. I should've been more specific. They were asking about the local NFL stadium, which if you've seen even once, there is no way it could have a retractable roof.

    But I didn't know that there were NFL stadiums with retractable roofs. Looking it up, it says the four stadiums been closed 2/3 of the time.
     
  8. BDC99

    BDC99 Well-Known Member

    How did you not know this? Pretty common these days for new stadiums to have retractable roofs.
     
  9. ColdCat

    ColdCat Well-Known Member

    Indy even makes a show of it, bringing out someone before kickoff to push some button that evidently opens the roof
     
  10. Bradley Guire

    Bradley Guire Well-Known Member

    I'm always amused when people ask me to explain what freelancing means. I tell them I'm a mercenary. Blank faces. So many blank faces.
     
  11. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    The NFL needs to develop a clear, understandable policy of when a roof should be open and when it should be closed. None of this home team deciding 10 minutes prior to kickoff. And once the game has started, condition should remain in place throughout. None of this opening and closing on a whim.
     
  12. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Ahhh, springtime, when we start getting calls and emails about kids turning unassisted triple plays in youth leagues. I got two this week involving the starter leagues. The father of the 5U kid responded with "I guess you don't care about LOCAL SPORTS" after I professionally and respectfully said we didn't do stories on kids that young.

    In a perfect world, I wouldn't lose my job by responding with this ...

    No, we don't do "write ups" on kids turning unassisted triple plays. They really aren't that unique, especially in the 5U league.

    By the way, you said he was playing pitcher, caught a grounder, tagged the runner going to first, then ran home and tagged a runner trying to score and then ran to third and tagged another runner there? Tell your little freaking superstar to throw the ball to his teammates. Nobody likes a ball hog. And nobody should give a damn about the final score in t-ball.
     
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