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Sat 8 Mar, 2003 10:48 am
We got a couple of offices/locations.
The other office got a new secretary.
Whenever you call and ask for someone, she asks "may I ask who's calling please?"
I'm about to go down there and throw a snowball at her head.
Why do people do this? Just put the fvckin' person on the phone, instead of asking who it
is...does it really matter?
Of course, it started out as a joke, I'd say "Gary Coleman," or "Derek Jeter," or some
other dumb name. Now, it's plain annoying.
So, do you answer the phone like that? If so, please stop. It sucks.
Anyhoo, quick story: Guy I work with was telling me when he was in college, his buddy
worked at this ice cream palor. Often, this really huge woman would come in to get ice
cream. One day she came in and asked for a half gallon of ice cream, and the guy replied "
For here, or to go?" He got fired on the spot. Hilarious.
Carry on.
Ever worked as a secretary? Put calls through to your boss? Well, let me tell you - he will ask you: 'Who is it? What does she/he want?' You want to answer: 'I don't know - who cares?' I don't! So, yes, it does really matter!
At least that's the way it works in Germany.
Yeppies - peoples wanna KNOW who is on the other end of that phone, generally - it helps limit the otherwise illimitless paranoia of those waiting instants - what fresh hell is this, you think - when you know who it is, at least your paranoid scenarios are limited.
When I worked in a Chinese restaurant I used to think people were ignorant and silly when they rang to order "Chinese" - like it wqas food, right, not people - and what else were they gonna get at a Chinese restaurant?
Late one night, when I was tired, dizzy and disinhibited, a man rang and asked for the despised "Chinese". Before I could stop myself, I said sarcastically: "Certainly sir, how many and what sex?"
Oy veh!
"May I tell him who is calling?" seems to work lots better than "May I ask who is calling?" The former is asking for a courtesy. The latter suggests the caller might be screened out if he isn't good enough.
That's right Roger.
Since I work in a private home, I do most of the phone answering, and I ALWAYS ask, "May I tell him who is calling?"
Slappy, here's the flip-side, I always introduce myself before they need to ask. It's a phone ettiquette thing my mom beat through my head growing up. "Good Morning, this is Jerry Rosa, may I speak with "so and so" please?"
The boss wants to know who it is so he (never had a female boss) can run fetch the answers to the question he knows he'll be asked.
I once knew someone who always said, "Hello, is a time waster". He would answer the phone, "Smith here"!
Alright, here's the thing. I understand when the boss is screening calls. Where did I say this happens only when I call my boss? Besides, nobody in my company asks who it is anyway, nobody really screens calls unless they're tied up. So she's the only one who answers the phone that does this, and it drives me up a wall, because it doesn't matter who it is.
Summary: She does it out of habit, not because anyone asks who's calling for them.
There's no more snow. Bricks might be too much. What else can I toss at her head?
Well, hopefully I won't be working there much longer anyway...
Good luck, Slap. Did the headhunter approach help, or something else.
Me too, Jerry. I have observed that important callers always identify themselves, while cold sales callers are evasive. I prefer to be considered important. I do resent being queried on the nature of the call, though. Sounds like someone is just being nosy.
In the work place I can understand the questioning of who it is, but when you call someones house and they ask, it bugs the hell out of me. I think it's just plain rude. Whenever my son calls his father, if his wife or any of her kids answer the phone, they always ask him who it is and it drives my son up the wall. Needless to say, my son doesn't call his father anymore.
In Germany, we usually don't answer the phone just saying hello. It is most common to say your last name when answering the phone. And the person calling you will answer by also saying his/her last name. More and more people are using first and last names now. I like that habit. I know right away if I have reached the person I was trying to call. And I know who is calling me.
At work I use first and last name. At home just my last name. My husband uses his first name only. But then again - he is not German. :-)
Not going with a headhunter, going to do it on my own...got an interview coming up this week for a job that has been my goal for a while.
I have answered the phone by saying "Good morning. This is the Ancient Oak Tree and I am The Wise Old Owl"
OK, so it's a white lie, but if Polliticians can tell lies, so can I.
Lying is fun.
Lying is good.
I'm lying.
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