The worst part of my job

Some people are SO rude. I could never be a sales person. This job has taught me that I definitely could not do that. Some of them use such slimy tactics that it is reprehensible. I have had people try to sidestep me in many many ways- from telling me that they are returning a call (falsely) to downright lying to me about why they are calling. I don’t think I have ever been actually insulted though. Until today.
Some man called, and I can tell when they are salespeople if 1) they ask for the owner (not her name), 2) they assume the owner is a man, or 3) I tell them that they aren’t available and they don’t want to leave a message. This guy asked for the owner of the business, which immediately puts me on guard. I told him she wasn’t in yet (the truth) and he asked for a co-owner. I asked the nature of his call. He told me it was a “confidential business matter”, to which I told him we weren’t interested. He mumbled something, and I told him that if he couldn’t tell me what it was about, I couldn’t help him. He asked if I was an owner and I said no. He asked my title and I told him the office manager (which usually garners at least some respect as to the viability of my decisions). He said “oh a message taker” in a REALLY nasty tone. Again I told him that if he couldn’t give me any more information, I couldn’t help him. And he said “Well if you aren’t an owner I don’t want to talk to you” and I said “Well I don’t want to talk to you either. Goodbye” and hung up.
Now yes, part of my job is receptionist, which means that part of my job is to keep the unimportant calls away from my boss. But that doesn’t mean I deserve to deal with these rude, mean people. People are constantly trying to bully me into either giving out information about people who work here, or to get them connected to someone who isn’t interested. I understand that their job is to sell things. But that doesn’t mean they have to lie or be mean about it. I had one person tell me they weren’t trying to sell anything, so I gave in and connected them to Marcie (after telling her that they said they weren’t selling anything). I heard Marcie from her office talk to them for a minute and then ask them why they lied to her receptionist (they were trying to sell stuff) and gave them a talking to about being false in their advertising. It was quite amusing. I have had people be completely unrelenting, even after repeatedly telling them we were not interested. I had one lady call me twice, the second time to yell at me for telling her we weren’t interested. I have had people try to “be my friend” and get to know me before they launch into their spiel. I really hate when they try to get information from me without telling me who they are. I had one lady call me about office supplies, specifically toner. We have someone who does our toner. I told her I wasn’t interested. She asked what kind of machine we had. I told her that I didn’t want to tell her since I wasn’t interested in her product. She got all offended and huffed “What, don’t you want to save money?” No, no I hate saving money. In fact, it is my goal to spend as much money as possible on every little thing so that my company goes out of business and I don’t have a job. That is why I deal with big name companies like Office Depot and Staples. Because I know that they are gouging me and are probably a scam anyway. (Oh wait, that refers to the people who call me on the phone.) You know, I don’t know how much I spend on toner, and I don’t really care to know. I like the people we deal with. I had a different toner salesman try to sell me on how much less we could spend on toner. I asked if he was local. He said “uh well, we’re in Colorado, that’s close. It’ll be like one night turn around.” I told him we have a local company that delivers (no shipping) and can deliver on the same day if necessary. His response was “but we are cheaper.” Yeah, sorry fella, not gonna help your case. The point is the local nature of the business we deal with, the turn around, not the price. If we run out of ink on a major project, we need ink NOW, not tomorrow.
The moral of the story is this: I hate salespeople. I recognize that they are just doing a job. I feel sorry for them. I would hate to have that kind of job. The only part of “The Office” (TV Show) I have ever seen is where the big boss man with black hair is working two jobs and the second is a call center. He hates it, does awfully, and gets in trouble for talking to his coworkers too much. That would be me. I would quit. I just wish the salespeople would STOP CALLING ME! And the automated sales calls. Those are even worse. Really, everything else about my job is awesome. I don't even mind answering the real phone calls. It is just the sales people that annoy the crap out of me. I wish I had caller ID so I could screen people a little better. That would be awesome.