Write Team: Mother told you not to lie, but did she tell exceptions

I am sure there is an extremely good chance that your mother told you not to lie, if nothing else, to her.

She probably told you this before she turned 65. She may have also included, perhaps reluctantly, about little white lies if you caught her lying to you. I mention before she was 65, because when she told you she probably had not yet received the multiple calls per day from companies trying to sell part-C medicare supplement plans. It also is probable that if you are reading this she was living in a time before these ads and calls even existed.

I used to be a very considerate person who would listen to telemarketers for at least part of their pitch. Then I would express that I was not at all interested. Those days are gone. I tried to be nice and not let them waste their time with me, as I thought they may be working on a commission basis, and profit by being able to call someone else who might be interested. They, however, would talk over me or ignore me.

These days though it is not necessarily even a person talking to you – at least at the start of the call. Odds are it is a recording that keys in on certain responses that determine which recording it moves on to, or it actually connects you with a person. A sign of a robocall is that after you say hello you hear a bloop sound.

When you are connected to a person, after the person says her first name and why they are calling; I have discovered an effective way to end the call is to ask for her last name. This often causes a hang up and sometimes you are told they will put you on their Do Not Call List. That is interesting to me, since I am already registered with the National Do Not Call List.

Another quick way to end it is to say no, if asked if you have Medicare Part A and B. This will either draw an apology that you are not eligible for their plan or a quick hangup.

If you have reached a real person a quicker way to hear a click is to ask for their last name. Apparently asking personal questions is a one-way thing on these calls.

New this year as a starting line on these calls is whether you have received the information about new benefits available. I don’t say yes. I will say things like of course in case they would be trying to record me saying yes and are a total scam. They probably have not sent you anything, since the company names they say they represent do no match companies I have received information from.

Let me reassure you that your mother would understand you following these creative ways of ending annoying calls. If not, if she is still alive invite her over to answer these calls for you.

• Rodney Verdine is retired as the assistant director at the La Salle County Detention Home, but also had been a probation officer. He can be reached at newsroom@mywebtimes.com