I thought I had gotten rid of these guys. Really, I thought I’d heard the last of them. I’m talking about those sleazy ambulance-chasers that keep trying to recruit me into helping them find “victims” of this year’s catastrophic disease, mesothelioma. This horrible health hazard dropped out of the blue back in January when I started receiving carefully couched emails from people touting camouflaged websites and expressing their willingness to write articles for my “fine website.”
I wrote about these oily characters in a January Morning Lineup HERE where I explained for you the various tricks they are using to sucker people into signing up for some free money. And I followed it up in March HERE with an update. If you haven’t read them, take time to do so because I think they make for some entertaining and enlightening reading.
Since then an entire legion of ambulance chasers has flooded the radio and television airwaves with an overwhelming barrage of scare-ads trying to harvest names of potential clients for this newly-discovered “disease” that is going to wipe out all of mankind in a most horrible manner. Don’t tell me you haven’t been hearing any of these “outreach programs.” They had left me alone for several months, but like that proverbial bad penny, “they’re ba-a-a-a-ck!”
Yesterday I received an email from this polite gentleman who I believe has never met me before. His letter starts out: My name is Jesse Herman, I am the Awareness Coordinator at the Mesothelioma Cancer Center…
Ahhhh, I got a letter from a colleaugue or yours earlier this year, except he was the National awareness coordinator at the same helpful firm. Next, Jesse tells me what he’s up to: Lately I have been reaching out to fire fighter bloggers in efforts of getting some of our free, unique information published. Your web site seems like an ideal fit.
Me, a perfect fit? Obviously you didn’t take even a moment to enter “mesothelioma” in the Search box on the webpage. If you had, you would have quickly discovered the disdain that I have for you guys as well as my reluctance to help you out in any way. With such poor research practices, why would anybody choose to do business with Jesse? Here’s a good one: As you may know, homes built before 1980 likely have asbestos insulation in them…. Firefighers [sic] are obviously in a unique profession where you punch holes when necessary, among other things, that can put you at risk.
Now let me tell you something. I’ve been living in houses since way before 1980 and I have never lived, or even seen, a house that has asbestos insulation in it. And I’ll tell you something else, Jesse. When we go a’hole-punchin’ we are wearing these things called SCBA’s. I’ll bet you don’t know what that is, either. And I went to that website that yesterday’s email linked to and you know what? It’s maintained by the same law firm in Melbourne, Florida, that one of my letters from last winter came from. I don’t think I’m going to bother answering this one either.
Ok, you hole-punchers. Let’s get this equipment checked out. I’m going to go start the coffee. (Wasn’t that supposed to cause cancer at one time, too?) See you in the day room.
