bill collectors have reached a new low, it seems. i got home today to a message on my machine that went, “hello my full name. this is generic woman’s name from generic corporate-sounding firm. could you please pass a message to your neighbor, first and last name. tell him to please call me back at 877-555-5555 about an important matter…”

jeez. can they do that? can they actually harass someone’s neighbor to try and shame them into paying their bills? now, i’m all for paying one’s bills and not spending more than one earns and good fiscal responsibility like that, but i also know first hand that one can get screwed through no fault of one’s own (poorly-managed health insurance plans, for example, cough cough) and have bill collectors calling at all hours while you’re waiting for some pea-brained administrator to straighten out their mistake. so i’m not passing judgement on my neighbor (and besides, i have no idea who this person is anyway). and yeah, technically the message said nothing about it being a bill collector, but really, there’s only one reason why pleasant-sounding women call from anonymous-sounded firms and leave 877 callback numbers. talk about invasion of privacy. if she calls again i might take up this fight just out of spite.