"Thank you, I'll pass on your comment"

In less than an hour I took three calls where with a sigh I just said, "Thank you, I'll pass on your comment."

The first was from a viewer who claimed no news media until today had EVER done a story on waterboarding and the government use of it. At first I was going to interrupt to tell him of the multitude of stories the station has aired on both the national and local levels. I couldn't because the caller was on a rant and I couldn't get a word in anywhere. At one point I wondered, "Has he taken one breath? He needs to be careful or he'll pass out."

You may ask why I didn't just hang up, and that's a good question. I have one rule I follow with phone calls: cussing at me or calling me names equals an immediate hang up. All other calls are dealt with on a day by day basis. For this call I think I was so amazed at the pace he was going, that I didn't even think about hanging up.

Finally though he started to really yell. That's when I loudly interrupted, "Thank you, I'll pass on your comment!" CLICK.

The next two calls came in back-to-back during a special town hall meeting on job searches the station was hosting and running live. The program was almost over when I received the first call. The caller demanded to know why I'D put on such job "experts" because, in his opinion, they were all "quacks" and I should be ashamed for sponsoring such a program. He paused. I think he expected me to argue or something.

Calmly I said, "Thank you, I'll pass on your comment." To this I hear with a question in his voice, "oh, Okay." Then with a stronger voice, "You do that!" CLICK.

I'd just put down the phone when it rang again. This time it was a woman complaining about one of the panelists. According to the caller the panelist only destroyed people's lives, never helps them. "She is always late to appointments and never returns emails!" she exclaimed. ""Thank you, I'll pass on your comment." CLICK

Sometimes it's just not worth arguing. It's not worth my time or energy to get worked up about the calls.