Telephone Messages
I receive many telephone messages.
Please do me a favor. I am old, have arthritic hands and am a bit feeble-minded. When you leave a phone number for me, please enunciate the phone number slowly and then repeat the number a second time. Say the content of your message as quickly as you like, but slow down cowboy when you get to your phone number. Say it nice and slowly. Then, repeat the number nice and slowly.
The Louis/Dressner Selections order board on a typical Thursday afternoon
This gives me sufficient time to correctly write down your number and call you back promptly. Otherwise, I have to listen to your message several times and I am constantly nervous that I will miss or confuse a digit. Repeating messages takes forever and I do not want to hear your message numerous times, even though I am delighted you are calling me.
Returning your phone call should be a great pleasure. But, by hastily recounting your telephone number without giving me time to write it down, you are wasting my time, making my arthritic hands suffer even greater pain, delaying the return phone call, and clouding my thoughts when I eventually do call you back. Why inflict unnecessary pain, insecurity and self-doubt when all you need to do is slow-up and say the phone number twice.
Taking messages has become even more complicated now that all messages are digitally recorded. In the not-so-old days, messages were stored on tape recorders and the listener could fast forward through a lengthy message to get right back to the phone number. Unfortunately, digital recorders do not have this feature and everytime someone calls you have no choice but to listen to the entire message to get to the very end where they give you the phone number.
So, please remember, your call is very important to us, please continue to hold the line. The next available representative will be with you as soon as possible.
198765175489498751354984518651587651579518755987974316472759317852794599757279576279572741379856123460987709184359182698734614514598468734601324687132409613089139846713460913046982347218690124986769849698406094898731204609136891873461332698745987518798579137895279325697812798762434987123749876389727951627951672987123491836871612345710760120871287016781748578174979697698793597484875385236512354789614789147061198218651651951951575279197217512732765979898832316518957624981214946497413145754218983572135786435812159526271279621796794517645987651354
Did you get that?