Telemarketing is a tough job, but it’s something everyone should try at least once. I remember putting on the headset, adjusting the microphone and firing up the computer, hoping to blurt out the introduction and greeting from my script to the stranger on the other end of the line before I heard the inevitable click.

Then there were those customers who were glad to hear from me, bought a subscription and told me I deserved a raise. I lasted a little more than three months trying to solicit newspaper subscriptions over the phone for the Des Moines Register. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, but the experience did give me some insight into what telemarketers have to deal with.

The telemarketing industry is taking the brunt of some cheap shots aimed at any and all soliciting phone calls with the ridiculous “do-not-call” list and has sued the Federal Trade Commission.

According to FTC Chairman Timothy Muris, an average of 158 telephone numbers have been added to the list each second since it has been made available to the public — more than 13.5 million landline and cell phone numbers were registered on the list during its first three days of operation.

Because President Bush has signed this legislation into law, telemarketers will now be restricted to calling just 25 percent of the U.S. population.

As if a mere list is going to stop them. One legitimate telemarketing company actually has professed to abide by the do-not-call list, but several other soliciting types of calls will be exempt from the proposed list, such as political organizations, charities, telephone surveys or companies with which you have an existing business relationship. For example, if you purchase something at an appliance store, they can call you for up to 18 months after you have made your last payment unless you specifically tell them to stop. What’s the point, then, if there’s a possibility that the number of unwanted calls in your home may decrease from 10 a day to eight a day with the do-not-call list?

Doesn’t a do-not-call list carry the slightest hint of discrimination? It’s not fair to eliminate thousands of jobs because of a social stigma. Most telemarketers are hardworking people trying to make a living the best way they know how for the time being.

The industry’s primary defense has always been its ability to provide employment. An industry advocacy group from California says they employ about 25,000 people. Last year, consumers bought $5.3 million worth of products from telemarketers.

The do-not-call list would impact many jobs and tax dollars. According to an article from a direct marketing trade publication written by attorney Tyler Prochnow, whether it’s jobs for single mothers who need the feasibility to work around day care schedules, disabled individuals or students, the industry has continuously reduced the nation’s unemployment rolls. During the past decade, telemarketing has been the vehicle of choice for many college graduates and MBAs, most of whom are entrepreneurs looking for a cost-effective market for a new product or service (www.private citizen.com).

Telemarketing could be compared to flipping burgers or scrubbing floors. It is a thankless job full of rejection, and it’s not as easy as you might think.

Some telemarketers are amazingly successful because they believe in the product they are selling and genuinely care about their customers’ satisfaction.

It’s a legitimate, fulfilling job or career for anyone willing to invest the time and effort necessary for success.

Like lawyers or doctors, the profession has a social stigma associated with it because of a few rude, obnoxious people. This is America and everyone has the constitutional right to earn their paycheck by selling products over the phone if they so choose.

To create a fuss over such an insignificant issue is absurd. People are starving, poverty-stricken without access to adequate health care, cures have not been found yet for cancer or AIDS, and those of us who are fortunate enough to support ourselves are having temper tantrums because we think our phones ring too much.

What about the equally annoying free credit card applications that arrive in your mailbox every day? It’s easy enough to throw them away unopened.

It takes a total of five seconds to say “no, thank you” and hang up. Caller IDs and answering machines help to screen out telemarketing calls. If you despise the occasional dinner hour interruptions, turn your ringer off while you eat.

Telemarketers are only as annoying as you allow them to be.