There’s got to be a better way to do this.
I donated generously to ActBlue twice in 2010 and twice in 2012. I was required to provide my phone number, and I naively did so. Cursing myself now for it.
In the years since, particularly around this time in the election cycle, my cell phone blows up. I mean it’s almost un-useable. 10 to 20 calls a day. I am not exaggerating. The This Committee. The That Committee. Specific politicians’ campaigns, in states far and away from my own. The calls appear in varying ways as they come in. No Caller ID. Or a Virginia number. Or a DC number. Or the game where they get hold of a number with an area code that matches my own, so I think it’s a local call.
It’s a serious hassle… there are now family medical situations going on and I can never be sure a call isn’t important. So I get hassled and stressed out and angry every damn day. And if I don’t always keep the phone on silent mode, the calls often wake the baby.
I’m done. DONE. Never, ever, EVER donating to any Democratic fundraising appeal again unless there is a way I can do so without inviting the arms and legs and talons and tentacles of political fundraising to abuse my daily life in this way.
I’ve budgeted $500 for the year, donation wise. I’ll figure out how to donate it somehow. But damned if I’m going to give out my number in the process of doing so, ever again. And I will never — for the rest of my life — say Yes to any phone appeal. It only gets you ‘Data Mined’ as a potentially open wallet, and you get 100x more calls in the future.
I’m beyond pissed off and am deeply regretful that I ever donated in this way in the past.
Pardon this rant. It’s been building for years now, and this morning pushed me over the edge. I am almost ready to change my number.
Thanks for reading.