Friday, August 24, 2012
For Whom the Bell Tolls
One of the most interesting changes from my old job to my new job is that my phone almost never rings. At the old job, I couldn't go fifteen minutes without someone calling me, usually to ask me to do something that I probably wouldn't want to do. Today, my phone rang three times all day. And two of them were wrong numbers.
A side effect of this is that sometimes I forget how I'm supposed to behave on the phone. I've struggled with figuring out a short, punchy greeting that fits my new position. It doesn't help that my new phone seems to take a minute after you pick up the receiver to actually start transmitting what you say. I have also developed a tendency to give excessively long, involved answers to questions when people call, as though I'm just out of practice with talking. I can actually envision people rolling their eyes and waiting for me to shut up as I go on and on about federalism or whatever. And I've kicked the affable laughter at people's small talk right up to eleven; there's a fine line between politely pretending to enjoy someone's joke about the weather and roaring like a supervillain.
Of course, I'm also not screaming or crying at people on the phone, so there is some progress.
One of the most interesting changes from my old job to my new job is that my phone almost never rings. At the old job, I couldn't go fifteen minutes without someone calling me, usually to ask me to do something that I probably wouldn't want to do. Today, my phone rang three times all day. And two of them were wrong numbers.
A side effect of this is that sometimes I forget how I'm supposed to behave on the phone. I've struggled with figuring out a short, punchy greeting that fits my new position. It doesn't help that my new phone seems to take a minute after you pick up the receiver to actually start transmitting what you say. I have also developed a tendency to give excessively long, involved answers to questions when people call, as though I'm just out of practice with talking. I can actually envision people rolling their eyes and waiting for me to shut up as I go on and on about federalism or whatever. And I've kicked the affable laughter at people's small talk right up to eleven; there's a fine line between politely pretending to enjoy someone's joke about the weather and roaring like a supervillain.
Of course, I'm also not screaming or crying at people on the phone, so there is some progress.
