What Being a High School Telemarketer Taught Me about America & Life
Lessons learned…one phone call at a time
“Hi, Mr. Lewis. I’m reaching out to save you hundreds of dollars on your long-distance bill.”
“Go f@#k yourself,” Mr. Lewis replied.
It was the early ’90s.
AT&T, MCI and Sprint were battling for landline subscribers. I believed deeply that Americans were paying too much for their long-distance telephone calls.
After seeing a job posting in my high school’s employment office, I joined the fight as a part-time telemarketer.
I worked four-hour shifts several nights a week, earning $7.50 an hour, convincing Americans to utter seven magical words: “Yes, I’d like to switch to Sprint.”
Our call center was located on the second floor of a Long Island office building that featured rows of cubicles assembled like a jigsaw puzzle to maximize space.
Each evening high school and college students, stay-at-home moms returning to the workforce, retired people supplementing their fixed income, and professional telemarketers for whom this job was part of a career filled the desks.
Our manager, a short man with endless enthusiasm for the telecommunications industry, handed out…
