Next time, don't call from the subway station during rush hour!

[Draper Mel]

Not a sighting but a hearing, to be accurate.

I'd just finished up with my psychiatrist and went back to the counter to make another appointment. His office assistant was on the phone with another client trying to make an appointment. I don't quite remember it verbatim, but this is the gist of it.

FA=friendly assistant


FA: ...that's "d" as in dog, "z" as in zebra...no, no "Z"! As in zebra...zebra. And "A" as in apple.

(She was trying to spell out the doctor's unusual name for him; you get the gist.)

FA: Okay, how about July 30? The next I have after that is August 5th. No, 5, 5th. No sir 5, 5th. <pause> You know, there's a lot of background noise there, that may be why you're having trouble hearing me, sir. <pause> All right, August 5th, at 11:00. Okay, we'll see you then. (hang up)


There were more repetitions than that, if I recall correctly. It was pretty painful to listen to. But jeez, if you're going to make a phone call, go somewhere quiet so you can hear who you're talking to!

[MoonCat]

I sympathize. I once had a customer calling me from, no kidding, a BOWLING ALLEY. And she wasn't an employee. Seriously, if you can't find a 5 minute window in your day where you're not in that noisy of an environment, then maybe you should place your ad online.

[greek_jester]

I can kind of sympathise. When I need to make a doctor's appointment my choices are the office (open plan, very easy to overhear my business), the canteen (open plan and noisy, plus our mandatory lunch hour matches my doctor's), or on hands-free on my commute home. Making or taking non-emergency personal calls at work comes with a disciplinary price-tag, too.

Guess which option I use? Of course, that makes things a little noisy my end, so I do have to repeat myself occasionally.