On Thursday night I came home from band practice and received a taunting from my dad. "Someone named Brian called. Who's Brian? Is he a boyfriend?" With a bewildered look on my face I replied, "I have no idea. I don't know a Brian." My dad asked my brother who he was, and he just shrugged and went back into his room. My dad informed me that the guy who called acted like he knew me and said, "Hi, this is Brian. Is Anna there?" Thinking that this guy knew me, my dad gave him my cell phone number and the guy said he would call and leave a message. I ran and got my cell phone and checked my voice mail. The message I received said, "Hey, Anna. It's me. Call me on my cell -" and gave a number. So natural curiosity took over and I called the number. No one picked up and the voicemail just said, "Leave a message." No clue as to who this guy was or anything.
The next afternoon he called back. He told me that he had a missed call from my number and asked who I was. I told him that I had received a message from him the previous night and I had no idea who he was. He told me he wanted to ask me a few questions and he would tell me why he was asking afterwards. I probably should have just hung up the phone, but curiosity got the best of me. He just asked me things like what I plan to do after high school, what I want to major in, and what kind of careers I could get into with that major. Then he told me he was from the army and asked if I was interested in having them pay for my college and having a career as an engineer in the army. I told him it didn't interest me and he asked why. So I honestly replied that my political views didn't coincide with that of the current administration. He understood and told me if I wanted any more information about it, I could reach him by doing such and such.
He was very nice and polite and all, but I was a bit perturbed after the call. I felt that he deceived my parents and myself by not telling why he was calling and just acting like he knew me. I mean, I know there's a lot of controversy about army recruitment and how mainly the poor people go to war because that's the only way they can pay for college, and I don't quite know where I stand on that. I'm an upper-middle class white girl who can pay for college through student loans, scholarships and a little bit of help from her parents. It doesn't really apply to me. I think it's great that people have the opportunity to go to college because of the army. But it's not for me. And I would at least like to know that I'm talking to a recruitment officer before I answer any questions.
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I'm not interested in joining the army either,and my dad keeps getting these recruiters calling asking for me. I plan to earn my way through working as a lifeguard and swimming lessons instructor, scholarships, and hard work. My goal is to pay for college without my parents help and if they do pay for some of it, then I plan to pay them back within ten years of getting my Masters degree.
Yeah, when I signed up for Fastweb(the scholarhip search site) and they ask how you will finance college, and my friends and I are all in agreement, those of us who said we would be financing ourselves through work, scholarships and loans have since been flooded with Military information whearas those of my friends that said their parents would be paying for it recieved little to know military information. The military needs people and has money, underpriveldge people need help to finance their goals. It's a sick marketing strategey that (esspecially in times of war) can end up leaving us with a nation of poor unsociable military folk who were promised a college education and got shipped away, and an upperclass that is nearly unaware of the "problem"
I hope that doesn't happen to me, the calling thing. I'd be so mad and it's not right for them not to tell who they are or what they want before you answer any questions. A friend of mine was a senior in highschool last year and walked right up to the recruitment officers in the school and told them to take him off their call list of seniors (they susposidly call all seniors though I haven't yet gotten a call. I'm not interested though). I'm thinking of doing the same thing, saves them a phone call and me annoyances.
The best way to a man's heart is really through his stomach, that way you don't have to deal with that pesky rib cage!
~Anomous
The same type of thing has happened to me.
Honestly, I think it should be illegal and I find it a little bit creepy.
i've got calls for a long time. But I also was interested in joining the military so looked into, so i think it is normal. But I've never heard of a recruiter not telling you who he/she is right away. As for it being illegal I think it is really bad idea. Let them call, let them by honest, you don't know what is good or bad until you look into it.
Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted
I didn't word that right.
I've got no problem with them calling. But they should be required by law to identify themselves within the first 30 seconds and on answering machines. Otherwise, it's misleading and wrong.
I had a recruiter call my cell phone, and leave no message. I missed the call, and called back... and was like, "Who are you?" and the guy said, "Who are you?" and I said, "You called this number, why?" and he started asking me personal questions. I'm like... no way. You tell me who you are, or I'm hanging up. It was like wringing water out of a damp towel to get him to tell me he was a recruiter before he knew if I was potentially eligible or not. Ugh.
No doubt they should identify themselves, i've never heard that before. However I know they call cell phones when they have the number, they call mine once a month.
Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted
I just wonder where they get cell phone numbers.
I definitely did not give my number to any recruiters. And it's on the Do-Not-Call list, and obviously unlisted. So what gives?