Lindsay received a phone call last night. The people on the other end were acting like they wanted to conduct a survey. Sales people seem to use this technique more often since sales calls are illegal since the implementation of the "Do-Not Call List".
These people were a Christian telecommunications company. They proceeded to ask who we currently received our long-distance from. Lindsay told them. They proceeded to inform Lindsay that the person who owns Primus (our long distance provider) also owns a homosexual porn company. Then they proceeded to tell us we should get their Christian telecommunications service.
Anyway, we didn't switch.
On a somewhat related subject, I tried to do some research the other week to find out who owns Viacom and Eli Lilly to see if there was a connection between not resigning Tom Cruise and the company that makes Prozac. I couldn't find who the owners were. They are all hidden in investment groups. With Eli Lilly, I couldn't even find the list of investment groups. I guess I'm just not business savvy enough. I'm not about to do internet searches for Primus and porn. I'm pretty sure what that will bring up. I'll take the "Christian" telecommunication company's word that Primus and some porn company are owned by the same person.
But in the world of business, I feel it is important to go to the business that provides the best service, price, or quality. What is most important is dependent upon what I feel about the product I'm shopping for. If I don't know much about the product I'm buying, then service is the most important. If I'm an expert at what I'm buying, price is the most important. If I'm worried about how the product will last in the long run, then quality is most important. I never consider what the owner of the business will use my money for in making my business decision. Maybe I should.
I feel ethically guilty paying too much for something that I know I can get cheaper elsewhere, buying something that wasn't what I needed, or buying something that breaks soon after I purchased it. I think to myself that I could use that money that I wasted to help someone in need, whether around the world or down the street. So I try to make buying decisions with that in mind. So when a company comes along and tells me that I can spend more to support a "Christian" company rather than a company that is owned by some person that also is in the porn industy, I face an ethical dilemma. Is it better to give my money to a "Christian" company that uses their profits for only God knows what? Or is it better to save my money and use it for what I know is good? I chose to keep my money.
Watch out for the potholes.
