You place a phone call and the voice on the end of the line sounds harried and harassed and bitchy, “Hello!” the voice barks, dripping with irritation.
Immediately you feel uncomfortable and you say, “Um…..hello” very quietly, “I’m sorry, have I caught you at a bad time?”.
This is the part where the harassed voice shares that they are “so very busy, busy, busy” and “what do you need?”.
“Nothing…..no problem….I will call when it is a better time….so sorry for interrupting” you say apologetically and hang up quickly.
This happens often and my question is, “Why the BLEEP do you answer the phone if you are too busy to speak to whomever is calling?”. What satisfaction do you receive by saying, “This is a bad time”?
When I picked up the phone to call you, it wasn’t as if I didn’t look at the clock and note that it was neither lunch or dinner time; as if I didn’t look at the calendar and note that it was neither a Saturday or Sunday. I had concluded that it was a reasonable time to call and that there was no way that I could know that you were:
- Driving
- Using the washroom
- Eating
- In a meeting
- Not working today
- Meditating
- Running
You see…..I am very intuitive, but not intuitive enough to know any of those things and when you take the time to answer the phone simply to bark out, “I’m driving/eating/pooping/in a meeting/running/bathing!”, well…….it makes me dislike you just a wee bit.
Don’t assume you need to answer the call because it might be an emergency…..believe me, if it is an emergency, you will not be my first call.
JUDY KUCHARUK 