| OCR Text |
Show JUST STUFF $p I BY Jfitl Jjh I j I You dial the number and hear that familiar noise telling you the phone is ringing on the other end. After three or four rings the phone clicks and you hear the cheery voice of the person you were trying to reach. "Hello!" "Hi," you say. "How's it goin'? Listen, I was wondering if . . " and you are interupted by the still cheery voice. "You have reached the residence of John and Mary Doe. We're away from the phone right now and we're sorry we missed your call. Please leave your name, message and phone number at the beep and we'll gback to you as soon as we can." "BEEP!' Of course not everyone tricks you into thinking that the machine is them. Some people warn you right off the bat. You dial the number, the phone rings and you're greeted with "Hi! Wait, don't talk. This isn't really me. It's a machine. I'm not here, so please leave a message . . ." At least you're forewarned. What do you say to a machine? I'm usually so dumb-founded and so embarrassed that I was duped into thinking it was the person, that I usually have to hang up and call back after I have composed a message in my mind. It's usually short and to the point. Let's face it, for some reason we all seem a little uncomfortable talking to machines. Maybe we're afraid they're going to laugh at us. Maybe it's the thought of being recorded. Whatever the reason, leaving messages on answering an-swering machines is not high ranking on the list of "fun things to do". So a lot of times we just hang up. What we don't realize is that just hanging up might ease our mind, but it certainly creates some consternation con-sternation in the minds of the person whom we've called. It's frustrating to have four messages registered on your answering machine and be greeted by four "Beep clicks"! I did read a story about someone with an answering machine who received a message that said at the beep: "I'm sorry, I was trying to reach the Jones residence, but I know how frustrating it is when people don't leave a message, so have a nice day!" There certainly is 1 greetings that peon,, :. their machines. They i ' very simple and imperii t This is 896-8960. gV message at the beep C,y ? 7, friendly "Hi! Thii V if' r- i this is Cindy." "We're Ti ' '' from the phone but we'd " chat, so please leave ! and we'll call you right back-'? ' ' t are on the more creative ;' b use sound effects andb-r L ( music. itJi'-i fc Occasionally we'll ! house. It's nice to come v i trips and know that you'i " missed any real import ! 1 calls (not that I get A " , important" calls), but it 1 i nice. But I got a stranger. 1 other day. I played the mars fc , heard my voice say: "Htjjl -1 i the Patterson's. Kraig aj(j ) , away from the phone so ' a message at the beep." 1 I "Hello. My name is Fred' computer. I'm doing a s' f: Needless to say I didn't recall. re-call. For all I know, a RBr. j love affair was spawned. ' |
