> On the other hand, no telemarketer antic gets me steamed quite like those people who call and ask for someone by their first name. "Hi there, can I talk to Jane?" It's a pretty inept attempt to make the person who has picked up think it's a personal friend calling, especially since you can sometimes hear other telemarketers making calls in the background.
>
> M"Er...she can't come to the phone right now"el

Especially for those of us who go by our middle names. Let's just put it this way: I know anyone who refers to me as 'William' probably isn't a close personal friend. :)

-- codeman"and, to make it even more confusing, my dad is also a William who goes by his middle name"38