Phone Survey Fun

Answer: "I'm white, for the most part..." and "No I would not say it is my favorite. The radio station sucks..."
Question: What responses can you give a phone surveyor when she asks you about radio stations in Evansville, IN?


So I get a call from a phone survey company wanting to ask me about radio stations in Evansville, IN. The first time they called, I politely told them that there is nothing worth listening to in Evansville, and I would be no help. When they called back, I decided to let them know how I really felt.

"Who are you representing," I asked.
"Evansville Radio Stations."
"Which ones?"
"All of them."
"Who do you work for?"
"Wilkens [something or rather]." I had not heard of them, but then again, I have not heard of many companies that call for phone surveys.
"Who is the group who contracted you out? ClearChannel?" I believe ClearChannel owns about half the radio stations here.
"I don't know. I would not know that information." And I thought, that's probably true. $7 to $9 an hour probably doesn't warrant knowing or caring who you are working for.

At this point, I let her begin the barage of demographic questions. Age, gender, ethnictiy...
"Are you white or caucasion, black, latin american, asian, or pacific islander?" she asked.
"Yes." I was in that narrow group. Maybe writing software has altered my ability to parse English, but I believe "Yes" is a perfectly correct answer to the preceding question.
"Ughh, which one?" Wow, that was a very condescending tone.
"White, I guess, for the most part."
"[very annoyed grunt]"

The script went on. "We are collecting information from ...." blah blah blah.

"Do you listen to any broadcast radio stations on am, fm or satellite?"
"Not often."
"What do you listen to?"
"I listen to the Bob & Tom show. It is syndicated on one of the stations here."
"Which station?"
"I am not sure. GBF? I think..."
"Would you say that is your favorite station?"
"NO!! I would not say it is my favorite. The radio station sucks, just like every other radio station I have tried to listen to here."
"[Another very annoyed grunt]"
She snaps, "Thank you for your time," and quickly hangs up.

So why do these places call and ask for your opinion if they do not want your opinion? And why am I getting a different phone survey company each month? I think I may have had a couple before moving here. Now, I get them each month.

And what pissed me off is that I didn't get to talk about death metal. [later I'll post the conversation I had with a cold-call salesman trying to get me to buy a timeshare in Branson, MO]