Hello, this is operator #8675309 with the Relay Service. I have a caller on the line ... "

Did the long 800 number on your Caller ID scare you off? Did you think it was a telemarketer? Or worse, did you refuse the call because the word "relay" made you think it was a scam?

Whatever the reason, please don't hang up! There's a deaf, hard of hearing or speech- or voice-impaired person on the line. We are not telemarketers, teenagers making prank calls or overseas criminals taking advantage of the free Internet Relay service. Those types of calls occur, but please give us the benefit of the doubt.

In my case, I simply can't hear you over the phone. Well, I could hear something, but I wouldn't understand what you were saying. With the Relay, an operator voices what I type and types what you say. The operator always asks if you've used the Relay before, and if you haven't, an explanation is provided. I have no choice but to use the Relay to make a call, as I don't think my husband would take too kindly to having to schedule a pedicure.

You, however, have a choice. Rather than making an assumption and automatically hanging up, hear the other party out and then decide whether it's a valid call. By hanging up right away, you cut off my ability to communicate.

Unfortunately, I'm hung up on more times than not when I make a Relay call. One time, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to get through to a store, I had a hearing friend call to let them know that I was a deaf customer whose business they had just lost. My friend left her contact information and was told the owner would return her call.

She's still waiting.

Most of the time -- especially if I call a business -- the employee party line is, "I'm not allowed to accept Relay calls." Thanks to a nifty document called the Americans with Disabilities Act, this is illegal.

What's not illegal, but should be, is rudeness. If I'm lucky enough to have my call answered, I'm often brusquely dismissed.

"I'm too busy to take this call right now. Call back later."

Click.

I can't even get a word in.

What's especially infuriating about this treatment is that it wouldn't happen to a hearing caller. The Relay may be slower than a "normal" phone call, but again, when you hang up, you're making it impossible for me to communicate.

And speaking of rude, that snide comment about me that you just made to your co-worker? I may not have heard it, but the operator did. Relay operators are supposed to pass on everything they hear -- verbatim. It's called the Relay for a reason.

Efforts have been made to get people to stop hanging up. There was a statewide consumer education campaign that utilized billboard advertising, radio spots and grassroots outreach, but it fell short. If I were an average Joe and saw a billboard that said, "Don't Hang Up on 711," with a link to www.parelay.net, I wouldn't necessarily assume it was related to the deaf or hard of hearing. Would you?

That said, a source at the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission who oversaw the campaign, did tell me that the site -- which is packed with information about the Relay service -- was visited often when the billboards were in place. Even so, it clearly didn't do enough since people still hang up on me, and, I'm sure, countless others.

The only numbers I could find to quantify the problem were informal ones kept by AT&T, which claims that the PA Relay campaign has reduced the number of hang-ups. The basis for this was that many Relay operators said they had noticed fewer hang-ups. Of course, this is a highly subjective measure and susceptible to operators becoming desensitized to the problem.

I do applaud any and all efforts to educate the public. But such campaigns need to be done right and rigorously evaluated for effectiveness.

Most important, people who can hear also need to listen. I didn't choose to have a disability, but being rude is a choice.