Tries suicide to escape persistent life insurance salesman
The present-day equivalent of this, I think, would be the feelings of desperation and rage that persistent telemarketers can cause. (Though thanks to caller ID, I just never pick up when they call, which is multiple times every day since the "do not call list" is apparently a complete farce.)
Kingsport Times - Apr 10, 1929
Insurance Agent Pesters Prospect to Near Suicide
CONCORDIA, Kans., April 10 (AP) —Hoping to rid himself of a persistent life insurance agent, Walter Cyr, a young farmer, left a goodbye note to friends and then disappeared.
For three days he was sought in the vicinity of his farm home by hundreds of men and finally was located sitting on a straw stack. When searchers approached he swallowed a small quantity of poison but experienced no ill effects because of prompt medical attention.
Cyr said he had wandered about the countryside for 72 hours, attempting to nerve himself to suicide. He asserted he knew no other way to escape attentions of the insurance man who had been "bothering" him.
CONCORDIA, Kans., April 10 (AP) —Hoping to rid himself of a persistent life insurance agent, Walter Cyr, a young farmer, left a goodbye note to friends and then disappeared.
For three days he was sought in the vicinity of his farm home by hundreds of men and finally was located sitting on a straw stack. When searchers approached he swallowed a small quantity of poison but experienced no ill effects because of prompt medical attention.
Cyr said he had wandered about the countryside for 72 hours, attempting to nerve himself to suicide. He asserted he knew no other way to escape attentions of the insurance man who had been "bothering" him.
Comments
So I take it they were trying to sell him insurance. It's good when someone will recognize a lost cause and just give it up.
Now have a phone that will block certain numbers--makes life easier. The ghosting number menace hasn't caught up to me yet.
Now have a phone that will block certain numbers--makes life easier. The ghosting number menace hasn't caught up to me yet.
Posted by crc on 01/12/16 at 09:12 AM
Wow, I wonder if the salesman left the poor farmer alone after all that.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/12/16 at 11:33 AM
Wonder if college kids will resort to this if they can't escape all the micro-aggressions around them?
Posted by RobK on 01/12/16 at 11:48 AM
When I had an actual hard wired telephone I would get calls from "dating services". No matter how many times I'd tell them I wasn't interested and to remove my number from their list, the calls continued at the rate of one or two a week. Finally I resorted to asking them if they had any girls on their list, preferably in the 12 to 16 age range. The calls would at least stop for four to six months afterwards.
Posted by KDP on 01/12/16 at 12:10 PM
Hey, I know what micro-aggressions are, I watch South Park!
Bet you're still on a list somewhere KDP.
Bet you're still on a list somewhere KDP.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/12/16 at 06:09 PM
http://imgur.com/Hvq0fPr
Posted by Phideaux on 01/12/16 at 06:44 PM
I used to work with a guy who sometimes got (not work-related) sales calls at the office. Sometimes he'd sound enthusiastic and ask them to describe their product. Then he'd put the phone down and walk away.
If the caller was a woman he would ask her what she was wearing, what color her underwear was. When she got indignant and threatened to complain to the phone company or the police, he'd say, "but you called me, I didn't call you."
If the caller was a woman he would ask her what she was wearing, what color her underwear was. When she got indignant and threatened to complain to the phone company or the police, he'd say, "but you called me, I didn't call you."
Posted by Jim on 01/12/16 at 10:12 PM
@Jim: I've been known to do stuff like this. It's really fun when/if you get a newbie reading from a script. If you interrupt you can make them start over, and over, and over.
Then, being a "Jr." I answered my parents' phone a few days after Dad had died and it was some clown selling cemetery plots. I'm not sure but he MAY have decided to change his occupation by the time I got done with him.
Then there are the phone surveys! I ask how much they're paying for my answers. I mean, it's only fair, they're getting paid to collect them so I think I should get a bump too!
Then, being a "Jr." I answered my parents' phone a few days after Dad had died and it was some clown selling cemetery plots. I'm not sure but he MAY have decided to change his occupation by the time I got done with him.
Then there are the phone surveys! I ask how much they're paying for my answers. I mean, it's only fair, they're getting paid to collect them so I think I should get a bump too!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/12/16 at 11:47 PM
The do not call list works perfectly in Sweden
Posted by F.U.D. on 01/13/16 at 07:27 AM
It's too bad the nuisances don't put themselves out of our miseries, rather than their victims.
Posted by Harvey on 01/13/16 at 10:13 PM
I use a service called nomorobo that works very well-almost no junk calls at all, where I was receiving 5-20 per day. (I owned a business, and some bonehead with NAMM gave out my home phone as the company number years ago.) I'm not affiliated with nomorobo, and you'll have to look them up yourself, but I love them.
Posted by Keith Elliott on 01/13/16 at 11:07 PM
Concordia is not a very big town. Insurance sales are hard to come by up there. Plus the insurance agent was probably tied into the mortuary somehow.
After registering on the "no call" list, the only solicitations we received were from politicians vying for our vote.
After registering on the "no call" list, the only solicitations we received were from politicians vying for our vote.
Posted by GFinKS on 01/18/16 at 11:37 AM
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Category: Annoying Things | Insurance | Suicide | 1920s