Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: 8 Apr 91 14:05:56 GMT From: Julian Macassey Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Mystery Solved (was: Strange Phone Calls) Reply-To: Julian Macassey Message-ID: Organization: The Hole in the Wall Hollywood California U.S.A. Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 276, Message 1 of 10 Lines: 40 In article John Higdon writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 273, Message 9 of 9 > At the risk of sounding exceedingly arrogant (too late, Higdon, the > time for that concern is long past), I usually give very short shrift > to people whose SECRETARIES place calls for them. Nothing, but nothing, > is more annoying than, "Mr. Higdon, please." "Speaking." "Mr. Smith is > calling. Can you hold please? [thunk/elevator music]" > In such cases I hang up as quickly as possible. In my work it is a fact > of life that a number of very busy people on very tight schedules call > me routinely and somehow manage to place the calls using their own > fingers on their own dials. Sometimes they even use their own voices to > leave messages. Using a secretary to waste the time of the CALLEE ranks > up toward the top of the rudeness scale. I couldn't agree more. My opinion of these people who inflate their self importance by having minions dial is way down there with pimps. I once did some work for a quadraplegic business executive. He dialled his own calls. He lays on his back and with a head set on his head, uses a "suck and piff" tube to select lines and dial numbers. But for me the final indication that people waste everyone's time by getting minions to dial was witnessed at Paramount Studios. An, "Entertainment Industry Executive", shouted from his office to the secretary's ante-room to "Call Harry Dash". The secretary dialed the call and put the poor bugger on the other end on hold. Then she told Mr. "Executive" that the call was "On line three". So what did Mr. busy, important executive do? He stopped playing with his yo-yo and picked up the phone. I could go on for days about waste, stupidity, ignorance and bad manners on the phone but won't bore anyone further. Julian Macassey, n6are julian@bongo.info.com ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian 742 1/2 North Hayworth Avenue Hollywood CA 90046-7142 voice (213) 653-4495