After The Click

The other day, I had to call a certain financial office where I know they are of the opinion that I blab. And they are right. Sort of. I hear the chomping in the background which tells me that my call isn't quite as vital as the iced doughnuts and coffee. Then there are the desk mavens, the whole time you are trying to gain some information, who think they are hiding the blips of the shoot-em-up game  on their computers while they speak. Around the water tank, they call it "multi-tasking". That is, if you are fortunate enough, at all, to get a real person when you make a business call. Everyone in this nano rpm world, doesn't want to be bothered by you as a human being; they want your numerals only: your phone number, your credit card number, your mother's maiden name and who was your first pet. Or worse, they want you to play a numbers game such as the famous Just Press One If You Want group. In my day, we had rules of being friendly with those we did business with. They included not just a hello and good-bye, but a light honest conversation that expected responses equally as honest and light. We called it being polite which is an archaic term now. And when I want to make an enquiry for enlightenment purposes and get the office speaker phone, it isn't uncommon for me to catch the sound of eyeballs hitting the ceiling when I say my name. Those in the office don't like LOLs  or Little Old Ladies such as I am, and have made it the office joke when I am put on speaker phone. They don't care that it's my money that helps them rent them that ceiling on which their eyeballs linger. Then again, I am equally guilty when it comes to hitting the off button and saying rude things about the individual I just spoke to. Most of the time, it is a machine and it tells me it will call back when it has time. Sometimes it takes half and hour or more, but then I am grateful that I don't have to listen to their rock and roll coming at me from a mini tinny speaker. When I do get the call back, it's from a worker halfway around the world. Only then do I realize why it took so long, but the person on the line is so very sweet and helpful, why should I complain. Not that I can understand fifty-percent of what they are saying. Sorry. My television set and I no longer worry about accents as long as we can get to watch more old Friends series. Furthermore, I know now a lot of ladies and gentlemen callers from India and the Philippines who don't seem to mind having a friendly chat as well as get the job done before I hang up and say "that was nice".