In the days at Los Alamos National Laboratory before we had voice mail or answering machines, office partners would routinely answer each other's phones and take messages. (For instance, see stupid secretary.) I often knew roughly what my office partner (Jane Doe) was working on and this knowledge helped in taking a message with sufficient context. Occasionally, Jane was working on a new project that I was not yet aware of.
One day a man from General Electric Corporation called on Jane's phone. I knew that Jane was either doing calculations for General Electric or perhaps advising General Electric about how to set up calculations for some aspect of the Navy's ballistic nuclear missile submarines. To ensure that this was not a new project and to provide context for the message, I asked "Does this concern the Navy's nuclear missile submarines?" There were perhaps two or three seconds before the man responded. (I thought maybe there was a problem with the phone call on my end or his end.) At long last, the man sheepishly said with some hesitation and uncertainty in his voice "She called about her General Electric toaster?"
No comments:
Post a Comment