September 10, 2002
The other day a telemarketer called us.
"Is Shane Banham there?"
"No, he isn't." Shane Bonham is sitting right across from me, but that's not who she asked for.
I don't like to be too rude with telemarketers. I mean, I don't want to sit on the phone with them forever, but I don't like to interrupt them. I usually listen for a second, until they come up for breath and then say, "sorry, we aren't interested" and hang up the phone.
So then she asks, "Are you able to make decisions in your household?"
"Yes, I am."
"Really?? You are allowed to make decisions?"
"Yes." I am getting a little irritated.
"You are over eighteen?"
I hung up on her. I know I sound like a kid. I am often told I look like a kid, but I don't want to talk about it or waste my time convincing some telemarketer about it. Almost once a week I get asked how old I am at work. I am told I look like I am eighteen. I want to say, "well, I wouldn't be able to be a nurse if I was eighteen, would I?" But I just smile and say something about how I will probably appreciate looking so young when I am older. It doesn't usually bother me so much.
A few years back, I called a restaurant to place a to-go order and was marveled at by the man on the other end of the line. He said something about how young I sounded and even asked for a phone number, which they had never done before. When I got to the restaurant to get my food, he brought it up again. I was embarrassed. He told me I should look into working with Disney and doing voices for animation. Maybe he thought I sounded like Mickey Mouse. The few times I called there after that, I tried to deepen my voice so I wouldn't have to go through all of that again.