We have had this for a while and it really works. With any automatically/machine dialed call, there is a single ring and then it is cut off. Because some of the spammers do dial themselves, we always check the Caller ID and never answer an unidentified call. It will go to our answering machine and if it is anyone we want to talk to they will leave a message.

That's funny...

Dear Sir
Proper respect is not dead, it is laying in a coma waiting to be revived. I have been to Ukraine and they young stand for the elderly, people with young children, people in a cast on the trains and buses. They make a wide berth of pregnant women, children and elderly while waling as to not bump them. You are NOT out of line. Look up Chad Prather on youtube for down home common sense.

It might be fun to try this method (courtesy of Calvin and Hobbes):
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobb...

Well, Allan.....
I also used to cross rapiers with them until I realized all they had was a butter knife. Nobody but such callers calls me Herbert. Not even bankers. Just like you, I now hang up. They almost always offer me a service or ask for money. Unless I'm in a mood to amuse myself, the brevity doesn't waste the time I spend doing the myriad things I find enjoyable.

I think we retirees remember when respect was part of our nation. Now we have a bunch of millennials who know who to con, and you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it always does. I am sick to death of the continuous calls saying they are from Windows. I have asked to be taken off their list, I am on a no call list, but still they call. Now, I am yelling at them, crazy old lady telling them to get lost. Then there are fund fund raisers for liberal causes, and I tell them not as long as Obama is in office, as we old folks have no money. I did actually get one of those national polls this week, name brand, and I was glad to tell them this college educated gal is not voting for HIllary!

GET OFF MY LAWN!! LOL

Yes you are, but you're correct. These small things are the underlying deterioration that manifest the larger problem.

I was always taught that there was a significant deference and respect that should be shown to people with whom you have only a casual or no relationship at all - especially strangers. Sir and Ma'am are appropriate forms of address for strangers. All my children know to never call someone older than them by their first names unless given specific permission (or they are related). It's the first step in a polite society.

Thanks!

That's because most of the telemarketing systems randomly dial and only switch the call to a live agent after you pick up.

My favorite tactic is that if I've already said hello and the called ID says "Blocked", I just remain silent until they speak. If it's someone I know, I'll recognize the voice. If I'm feeling particularly annoyed, I just set the phone down and burn their minutes until they hang up. This one is classic: https://youtu.be/qZYjA8iwbqE

Just for fun I answer the phone sometimes not giving my name. I just breath into the phone. When they ask is "so and so" in, I say no. When they ask when "so and so" will be back, I reply, well, we've been told, that with good behavior, possibly 5 to 7. A click,... bzzzz sound usually results...

I don't give account information on the phone unless I made the call and I'm very careful about that.
Today I woke up to a 1-800 number call on my Caller ID.
Man says, "Is this David?"
Me dino says, "Yeah."
Man says, "Please help us put Trump in the White House and Hillary in the outhouse. Ha! Ha!" Yes, that laugh sounded as phony as it looks written.
I told him I've been helping Trump out with mailed donations which is the truth.
Man says "We know you've been helping Trump"
I'm thinking a good con artist would say as much as he adds, "With 8 days to go we don't have time to send you mail. So could you help out by donating $200 with a credit card?"
I tell the man I don't like doing that on the phone and I say goodbye.
So was the man a Trumpster or a scamster?
Me dino dunno. Me no have psychic abilities.

more sensitive, no! more knowledgeable so you do the right thing by hanging up. no need to waste your time thinking that they will stop calling. keep up the hang up

Haha...Yeah, we start getting a little more fed up with age, I think.

I have a "no soliciting" sign on my door which, of course, often doesn't work. I still with them good luck with their efforts when I send them on their way.

I did snap back at a religious door-to-door guy years ago. I just said, "No thanks." He had a young trainee with him and the older guy said, "Well, I guess you don't want to be saved today." Without a thought I instantly snapped back, "Who says I need to go to your church to be saved?" Stumped the hell out of him. (The younger guy seemed to be paying attention, too.)

Fortunately for me, AT&T has such bad local coverage, I don't get the calls at all. ;^)
Well I didn't get any when I was using Verizon either, but living overseas for several years previously may have temporarily interrupted any lure that my publicly personal records may have had for the intrusive marketers. I never had any problems on my cell while living overseas either.

Most telephone robo-spammers can be avoided by filtering through the nomorobo system https://www.nomorobo.com/

Wait until the phone rings once before picking it up. If it stops ringing then the call has been blocked and is gone.

I prefer being called by my first name and hate being called Mr. It is too stuffy for me but that is a personal choice. But I don't really like being called by strangers.

I can't be entirely sure, which is why I asked. I simply see saying "Mister Ashinoff" as a form of respect when you call me unannounced and uninvited seeking information, support or money.

In a public setting I expect and use "Sir" or "Mr. XXX" or "Mrs. XXX" when talking to someone until invited to be more familiar and expect the same.

If a vendor approached me, a stranger, and said Allan I have the greatest and most useful thing for you to buy...My mind snapped shut at Allan - disrespectful and presumptuous.

I notice this behavior of mine more now but can't say when it began.

Yes, you're getting more sensitive with age. And, yes these calls are annoying. But, this reminds me of something. I have clients who act like I'm a robo caller when I call. That gets weird. I tell them who I am, our firm name and they just get real quiet - haha...Overall, people are getting strange...very guarded. I rarely answer a call unless I know who it's from, myself.

No, but I do think it may be generational. I object to being called by my first name by strangers and very casual acquaintances. My children on the other hand, in spite of my correcting them numerous times , address people in the familiar way. I notice it in the work place as well, the younger people always initially address by the first name.
infuriating.

No, your growing intolerance is justified...it's way over the top these days. On my cell phone (which is off most of the time) gets 10 calls from unknowns to one that I know. At home...my caller ID doesn't even know who's callen...think I gona answer it?
Lately and maybe because I spent years with the cell glued to my ear. I have abandon the phone altogether...don't call me cause I won't answer. I will only talk face to face or read an email from you instead...I am even getting tired with emails... what will I likely dump next? We'll see...

I think maybe it bothers you because it does show a coarsening of our society. Heinlein said in one of his books, and I paraphrase, that you could tell a society is in decline when courtesy is no longer common. It's the same thing when I am expected to hug a complete stranger when I meet him. I suspect that you and I are old enough to remember a more gracious time.

The thing that I hate is saying hello and then they pick up and expect you to say hello again.