Nothing brings out bad manner and bad language like a phone call from a telemarketer.

Can I get an Amen?

The moment you say hello, and are greeted first with that brief static-buzz on the line and then with an overly-cheery voice chummily asking for you by (mispronounced) name, you can feel your blood pressure rising.

Is it just me, or is it your experience as well that these calls come on the busiest days, at the busiest times? Dinner is cooking, kids are fighting, the door bell is ringing . . . and this fool on the phone launches into some selling spiel that can go on for ten minutes before a breath is drawn.

The best, simplest defense is just to hang up. But I admit, its hard to resist making some sort of caustic comeback. Even worse, how many of you have actually had the telemarket…