Thursday, July 30, 2009

Voice Maul

It's fooled me twice, and I wish it hadn't.

It's a business contact whom I have to phone every now and then. Well, it's her phone.

You see, when she is there at her desk, she answers the phone, "Mildred Shlabotnick...*," and we have our business conversation and away we go.

But when she's not at her desk, wherever it is she works, her voice mail comes on, answers on the second ring, "Mildred Schlabotnick...*" and I go "Hi, Mildred, listen, about those blah blah blah " because just then you hear that universal nasal operator-y recorded voice saying..."is not in. Please leave a message for (space) Mildred Schlabotnick (pause) at the tone. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Another thing about these new-fangled answerin' machines..ever notice how often people sound, when they record their name for the outgoing message, as if this is the first time they have ever said their name aloud? It's always like "MILdred SchlaBOTnick?!"

And of course I'm totally thrown off stride and I leave a message that, when Mildred gets back from Panera, she hears and immediately questions my sanity, the point of the message I had wanted to leave having been subsumed in the verbal equivalent of a man knocked off his feet.

Maybe I'll just quit leaving messages, because as we all have been told
, one can do even more by quitting than by doing the job one was chosen to do.


Click here for message:
http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2009/07/28/william-shatner-gives-sarah-palin-a-poetic-sendoff/


* not her real name. Nor hers.

2 comments:

Pandora's Aquarium said...

haha! I know what you mean! It's like we're trying too hard to pronounce our name. How often do we say our full name anyway, ya know?

And Palin- what a boob. I only wish I was as dumb as her and her followers so I could quit MY job and live in ignorant bliss.

Peggy said...

Well, it WOULD be nice to be able to quit and live in ignorant bliss! I have to agree!!!!

And, I also have to say that I called one of our clients the other day and got that same kind of message. I actually thought he picked up the phone! I started talking away!