Phone Solicitors

I have lost track of how many phone solicitations I have received this month. No matter. However many, it’s too many. Each time I have declined.

Usually it is a cause of which I approve. Or at least it sounds good to me. No wonder. The solicitor is working a list, a “good” list, filled with names of people likely to support the organization for which he is calling. He may be a volunteer or he may be a mercenary, getting a percentage of what he is able to raise.

Dinner time is the best time to call. And it is the worst time to be called. I decline to give money, and I give no more time than minimal courtesy requires. Each time I make it a point to say that my response is an effort to stamp out this plague.

Mail solicitations are bad enough. But I give to many of them. For one thing, I have to use up all these return address labels. I only have about 30 more years to live. But it is no use. I keep getting more!

BOB BRIGHAM

Manhattan Beach