My Ears! My Ears!

So I just got a call from Northwestern's alumni directory publishers. God - the guy had the most ANNOYING sing song voice. It was Valley girl meets Texas meets spastic. Awful, awful voice. Every sentence was in a high pitched tune that rattled every fibre of my being. Even now, my ears are ringing with the sound of it and making my head hurt.

Anyway, he took all my info, including my spouse's name - even though I don't have one yet, I will by the time the directory comes out next summer - and 5 excruciatingly auditory minutes later he finished verifying all my info. Now, I thought, I'll probably have to buy it (nothing from NU is free). I was expecting it to cost $10, maybe $20. The guy tells me that the CD and book version is the best deal - for $89.95.

$89.95! Is he on crack?

I politely declined. He insisted. He tried to convince me by saying its a great reference tool for networking. It may be expensive, but like encyclopedias or dictionaries which are also expensive and which one uses once in a while, it's a great thing to have in your bookshelf.

How does a list of NU grads POSSIBLY compare to Brittanica? Plus, I refer to my dictionary quite often, thank you, and it is not gathering dust like my 2003 College Yearbook. Thankfully, he took my no for a no (took me only 4 times of saying it for him to believe me) and I sent him packing.

I was relieved to hear it cost me nothing to be included in the book. Thank goodness. At least this way, if someone else (with $89.95 to spare) is looking for me, they'll find me, spouse and all.

Pfft!