Back when I was a telemarketer

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When I was in high school, I worked for large farm in S.E. Georgia, with a pretty decent sized mail/phone-order business. They would mainly sell Vidalia Sweet Onions, but shipped out other stuff as well: cakes, jams, cookbooks, chocolates, pies, cookies, etc.

I took orders by phone. I would occasionally call people up whenever we had a surplus of perishable items, and ask if they wanted to buy another one. (I realized at a very young age that I wasn’t cut-out for telemarketing.)

I once spoke to Frank Sinatra’s personal chef. Richard Simmons also called every year to order a Christmas gift for his mom. I never got to talk to him, though. We never knew who would call next.

I spent my time taking people’s contact info and credit card numbers.

All.

Day.

Long.

Anyway, here’s something I’ll never forget about the job:

  • Visas start with 4
  • Mastercards start with 5
  • Discover cards start with 6. (Mostly 6011_
  • American Express starts with 37

Go ahead. Check.

What’s something random you’ve learned from a job, that you’ll never forget?

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61 thoughts on “Back when I was a telemarketer”

  1. That when your boss walks by you and says, “Oooh, I almost touched you.” he’s a creepy old man and it’s time to find a new job.

    And no, I’ll never forget that. Believe me, I’ve tried.

    Reply ↓

  2. HA! – As an Assesor of Government Grants to students here in Aus i had to pay money to bank accounts as part of my job
    ALL
    DAY
    LONG :-)

    The Six Digit bank codes before your bank account number we have over here? (not same for credit cards)

    if it starts with a 0 it is a cheque account if a 7 it is a savings account. (This holds for the four major national banks we have. State banks are different)
    the next digit is the bank – can be 1, 3, 5 or 6 for the four major national banks in Aus (used to be more but some merged, hence the ‘missing’ numbers). The next digit is for which state the bank is in (we only have 7 ‘states’ over here) then the last 3 are for which branch you opened the account at.

    I also learned every post code (-zipcode) for my state’s towns and suburbs in the same job, at least 250 places in all – they stay with me 25 years later.

    On a more useful note… i learned (the Hard Way) as a storeman for a large grocery store that you don’t ever pick up a broken shopping cart by the rear wheel support to throw it to the back of the rubbish pile without first checking if the swinging back of the trolley (that folds up when you put more than two of them together so they take up less space) does not swing all the way back past the end of the cart when you have it lifted up to your face and your nose can get whacked by it as it swings back past where it ought normally to be stopped by the cart wire cage. (TRUST me on this one!)

    You only ever make such a mistake ONCE!

    <B

    Reply ↓

    • And what I find interesting is that you LOVE numbers and I just don’t get along with them. hmmmm….. Where did I go wrong?

      Note to self: Never pick up a broken grocery cart. Got it.

      Reply ↓

  3. As an exterminator, when you use instant kill spray on roaches, they always kill over on their left side. They never kill over on their right side. I’ve killed billions and so… I’m not sure why I started paying attention to this. But I did.

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  4. If you work at a Chinese restaurant that allows you to fill one plate as full as you can at the end of your shift every day for about 8 months, you’ll gain weight.

    Seriously.

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  5. When I worked at Godiva Chocolatier during summers and breaks the first couple years of college, I learned (and remembered) two completely unrelated things:

    1. When chocolate gets that white coating, it’s not mold. It is called “blooming.” It simply means that the sugar has separated from the rest of the candy. There is really nothing wrong with it, and it is still completely edible. But it’s a surefire sign that the chocolate is old.

    2. The DuPont company, based in my home state of Delaware, supplied 98% of the ammunition to Northern forces during the Civil War.

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  6. 52 Pepperonis go on a large one topping Domino’s pizza
    28 with two toppings
    12 with 4 or more toppings

    A large dough patty is 1.6 pounds

    The average time it takes to make a large Pep. pizza is (without baking) is about a minute….I have done it in 28 seconds—I have seen it done in 12.

    You need a net worth of $200,000 to own a Domino’s Pizza.
    The profit margin is about 62%.
    You only need one that makes around $8,000 a week (very slow) to live rather comfortably.

    Ok, sick of pizza info yet?

    Reply ↓

  8. “Good afternoon, and welcome to Wild Rails! There’s going to be a jerk at the chain at the bottom of the lift and a quick stop at the end of the ride. Please keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times, and enjoy your riiide.” *push button, send car, load next*

    I also remember some CB codes from when I was a supervisor at above alluded-to amusement park.

    Reply ↓

  9. I was a lifeguard for five years. Many public pools (at least here in Colorado) have a chemical in them that will turn green when urine is present.

    You have been warned.

    Reply ↓

          • Not to deny anyone else’s Truth but no public pool owner is going to spend money putting such a dye in the pool. Any Kid with an ounce of imagination is going to want to ‘prove’ this if it was told them and then blame it on the kid next to them in the pool ;-)

            There is no known company that produces such a product that can uniquely identify human urine as the offending factor, in part because there is simply not the demand for it.

            My Organic Chemistry training from my Uni Days has a couple of thoughts on the subject too:

            Many nitrogen compounds form a green solution in water and Urine has large quantities of nitrogen compounds in it.

            Most Urine is yellow in colour. Most swimming pools have a blue lining. If you pass sunlight through a yellow ‘filter’ and look at a blue background you often gt a green appearance (similar to mixing blue and yellow dyes to give a green colouring). This could account for the ‘green’ clouds.

            Many public pools contain Chlorine – which in it’s gaseous form has a light green colour. Chlorine in solution forms many compounds, particularly with organic chemicals our body can express. in a few extreme cases some ‘cloudiness’ is to be expected when one comes into contact with the other.

            Finally our eyes usually tend to ‘see green’ when strong sunlight is reflected back into them (or we look directly at sunlight/reflected light) for a time. Yet another reason how green can be seen in pools.

            TMI?

            <B

            Reply ↓

          • Confession Time! :shock:

            NO – i have not peed in anyone’s pool!

            But it’s a good job there is no chlorine or pool dye in the Ocean – I’m just sayin’! :roll:

            Just remember this next time you are at the beach on a hot day with a thousand other people – swimming ;-)

            <B

            Reply ↓

  10. I know a lot of random information that I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

    1. Faith Hill was born in Star, Mississippi.

    2. “The day the music died” was written by Don McLean because Richie Valens, The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash. Don was supposed to be in that plane, but they flipped a coin and he lost.

    3.Suppression leads to depression.

    4. Shania Twain’s Dad was a full blooded Indian, and she got made fun of often. Both her parents died in a car accident when a logging truck lost a few logs from the back. When she became a big star, the country music industry told her that she should change her name, but her Dad named her- and she refused.

    5. Geese fly in a V formation so none of them get too tired- their wing flapping creates an updraft.

    6. A customer is always right. Even when they aren’t right.

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  14. “What’s something random you’ve learned from a job, that you’ll never forget?”

    when youre working the front register at mcdonalds (i was 16) dont flip off your boyfriend when he walks in. the customer youre serving just might get mad. and then youre boss might come out and yell at you in front of everyone, including the boyfriend youre mad at. then, you might get demoted to the grill.

    dang.

    Reply ↓

  15. I love this one! Hmmm…where to start…

    I used to know the Dewey decimal system very well – first job was at a library. And then I knew all sorts of info about the politics in the small, rural town I went to college in – worked for the Chamber of Commerce. Then I moved on to the step-by-step process of filling out employment forms – worked for a staffing agency.

    What sticks with me most, I believe, are the stats I learned working for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The one burned into my brain is this: Every 10 minutes, someone dies from leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease or myeloma.

    The good news is that it used to be every 9 minutes. But still, that’s a rough one to remember.

    On a lighter note, I also know way too much about cat food and dog food, thanks to my job at an advertising agency that worked for a pet food client.

    Reply ↓

      • Well, I worked for a company that makes high-end pet food, so I’d say they might not want people to know just how many chemicals go into that healthy food.

        I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. But some people might.

        Sorry…that’s so not interesting. But the company I represented was actually a great one. No abusing animals with testing, no random animal parts included in the food, nothing like that.

        Maybe – like many large companies – they wouldn’t want their customers to know just how much money they spend on marketing! :)

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  16. Doing business with southern managers was very different that working with northern bosses.

    I was an auditor and had to sell managers on implementing my recommendations.

    In Ct, NY and NJ meetings were all business. They either like the idea, and implemented it, or told you it was the stupidest thing they ever heard. I know exactly were I stood.

    When I worked in NC, Fla, and Va the meetings were very sociable. The mangers would agree with everything I said, smiles all around. I quickly learned they would never actually do anything.

    It was far more pleasant to deal with southern managers, but 10 times hard to figure out were I stood.

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  17. when steaming milk, I can tell the temperature by the feel of it against my hand. I was trained without the thermometer. Nowadays, they have these thermometers that beep when they get to a certain temp. It’s like ther calculator of the barista world! Did I just say “nowadays?!”

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  19. “What’s something about cat/dog food that companies DON’T want customers to know?”

    Many dog foods contain cornmeal, which is very difficult for dogs to digest–especially a dog with special needs like my bestest friend. But, heck, even humans have a tough time digesting cornmeal. But it’s not so much that they don’t want you to know that–if it’s in there, it’s listed on the package–but very few people know how tough it is for dogs to digest.

    Also, dog food companies don’t want you to know that dog food just flat out sucks for dogs.

    And Tums DOES have calcium in it, but it’s CHALK calcium–not the good calcium your body can actually get something useful out of.

    Dark chocolate is better for you than brown chocolate. Because the darker the chocolate, the richer it is in antioxidants.

    But any green tree drink with “high fructose corn syrup” or 12 grams of sugar per 8 oz. isn’t good for you, either.

    The same is true for “fat-free” Smartfood. You know, the popcorn. Cause regular Smartfood has no partially hydogenated oils, but “fat-free” Smartfood has partially hydrogenated oil in it. (That might have changed since I learned to read the fine print on packages, though.)

    Unless you can get them from a garden, vegetables are best frozen. Canning often requires a heating process for the seal. “Fresh” vegetables have been sitting around for who-knows-how-long. But many frozen vegetables are picked and frozen the very same day so they are maintain much of their nutrients.

    And by the way…nonfat, skim, and 2% milk are NOT as healthy as whole milk. The NATURAL 5% fat in cow’s milk forces your body to digest it slower, which means you aren’t getting just a full glass of sugar like you are with the nonfat, skin, and 2% milk.

    Dieting is a marketing ploy.

    And by the way, for a really good concentrated green tea, click

    http://herbasway.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=39&zenid=c7ftpdfr99qokajd5qq88h1023

    And for a good vitamin, click

    http://www.purityproducts.com/multivitamin.asp

    And for those of you wondering at what job I learned all this, simple: THIRD SHIFT!!! :lol:

    Reply ↓

  20. “But many frozen vegetables are picked and frozen the very same day so they are MUCH MORE LIKELY TO** maintain much of their nutrients.”

    “nonfat, skiM**, and 2% milk.”

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  22. I worked at Ross. It helped pay my way through college. And every tag is a little description of what it is and where it should go.

    12 is Misses
    30 is Juniors
    15 is Knits

    I learned how to fold towels. And the job I did the most there was customer service. People are so mean! And they return the strangest things. People would bring stuff from other stores to our store and they would ask how I knew it wasn’t from Ross. I had worked there so long I knew all the clothes we carried!

    Reply ↓

  24. i’ve only ever had 3 jobs in my entire life.

    executive assistant: i learned how to rock an excel spreadsheet.

    old navy sales associate: i learned that standing on your feet all day is a whole different kind of tired.

    missionary in africa: i learned that toilet water really does flush the opposite way south of the equator.

    Reply ↓

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