Sunday, November 12, 2006
The absurdity of telephone surveys
OK, so it’s a Sunday. Yesterday I took the day off, and Em and I visited my good friend, Joy, out in the valley. We hung out all afternoon and evening with her, her menagerie, and her neighbour and her menagerie. So today, I had to catch up on stuff that I didn’t have time to do during the week. No, not housework, though I had really, really, really wanted to hang pictures, vacuum, dust, and do other things around the house. What I needed to catch up on was all the business-related stuff that didn’t within the week. I’m trying to squeeze a presentation, a few articles, and various other loose ends for World Usability Day in before the day ends. So when we get the phone call to the effect that someone wants to conduct a telephone survey, I get a little cranky. I mean, who has extra time to waste doing things like answering surveys? Especially if you don’t know whether the survey is a veiled sales call. If I had more time, I’d be spending it with my grandkids, not loitering about. Maybe I’m in a particularly grumpy mood today, but I suppose that’s part of miserably rainy day where there’s no reason to even get out of my jammies, and be chained to the computer at the dining room table working all day.