Looking for creative and petty tactics...
As mentioned in a previous post, Im working for a reporter at the New York Times who is writing a book on creative ways of dealing with life´s little annoyances. We are looking, ideally, for sustained tactics more than single experiences that people have had with these frustrations, something that you have done regularly in these situations.

Here is a list of the things we are looking for. If anyone has creative or funny tactics, please send them to me at [email protected].

--Dealing with the computer voicemail lady, that after I'm done leaving my (now only 6 second)message, I can just hang up or press 0 for more options and I should press 5 to leave a callback number. Sure, it's only a short second that she pauses you before hanging up. But still, this post-message recording is really tedious. Whats to be done in the face of this annoyance?

--Has anyone taken to using a spoof disclaimer at the bottom of their emails in mockery of the annoying and ridiculously litigious trend of closing each email with some confidentiality language. Has anyone developed any other particular tactic for reacting to those disclaimers?

--Has anyone invented an anti-ringtone to make the point that they despise those cutesy ringtones. Maybe it just says "I hate cutesy ringtones" whenever someone calls. Or perhaps they have thought of some other tactic for dealing with this annoyance.

--Has anyone ever gone to extreme lengths - like, say, sending a virus or pulling the fire alarm - after having mistakenly sent an email to exactly the person you did not want to read it.

--Dealing with pushy salespeople who ask every 2 minutes whether you want help. Sure, there are probably a fair number of one-liners. But we'd be interested in something more sustained or creative.

--Dealing with charity muggers that are always prowling the streets asking for your bank details. Does anyone have a low grade tactic like keeping thier own petition on them at all times so that when they are asked by someone else for a signature they can whip it out and ask for the same in return? What about stores that ask for charity at the counter, especially during Christmas time, are there any sustained tactics for dealing with that?

--ATM fees are the worst. Other than getting money from machines that dont charge - has anyone developed some passive aggressive way of dealing with these charges? Some people get back at their bank by throwing away the stack of deposit slips every time they go inside. Irrational? sure. But interesting nonetheless.

--Calling a company support telephone number that was the only "help" you could find after 15 minutes on their website... only to get a recording suggesting you go to the company website for help with your questions. Anyone who has found a way to cut this Gordian knot?
(Habibi, Tue 31 May 2005, 14:57, Reply)