Death of Phone Manners

[El Tejon]

Does anyone else remember receiving instruction in telephone use in kindergarten and 1st grade?

I wonder if this is taught in school anymore?

[Mannlicher]

I think its just you tejon.

[garrettwc]

Does anyone else remember receiving instruction in telephone use in kindergarten and 1st grade?

I wonder if this is taught in school anymore?

I have two grandkids that age. I don't remember hearing anything about such teaching from them.

I do remember it when I was a kid. They had this whole mini-phone company thing in the classroom. A teacher or student was the operator(ran the switchboard) and their were three of four phones. You dialed a number and one of the other phones rang. Best I remember they were those new-fangled push button phones from Bell Telephone.

[Lee]

"El Tejon wrote:
Does anyone else remember receiving instruction in telephone use in kindergarten and 1st grade?

I wonder if this is taught in school anymore?"

Not that I'm aware of.  I taught my kids to tell tele-marketers, "just a minute please" and then to set the phone down.  It might take me an hour or so...but I eventually get to the phone.

[Sindawe]

Does anyone else remember receiving instruction in telephone use in kindergarten and 1st grade?

Shoot, I'd not thought about THAT in years.  Yep, we got that in both kindergarten and 1st grade.  Got my first taste of power when I ran the switchboard.  Ain't been right in the head since.

Its a polite thing to do, treat the answerer as a human being and not an answering machine.  Most people havent mastered that yet.

Too true Rabbi.  But it had been my observation that most people are little better than animals that walk upright, are (usually) housebroken and make noises that sound like words.

[El Tejon]

I don't remember a switchboard, but I remember a filmstrips and a plastic practice phone that we would have to answer.

[grislyatoms]

Used to have a co-worker; his girlfriend would call every day.

Me: "IT, how may I help you?"
Her: "Benny."
Me: "Hold on, I'll get him for you"

I got sick of just hearing "Benny" blurted at me on the phone, so I started playing stupid.

Me: "IT, how may I help you?"
Her: "Benny."
Me: "Sorry, I am not Benny." [silence for 10-15 seconds]
Her: "Is Benny there?"
Me: "Yes." [silence for 10-15 seconds]
Her: "Well, can I speak with him?"
Me: "I don't know, that's between the two of you." [silence for 10-15 seconds]
Her: "May I please speak with Benny?"
Me: "Sure, hold the line for just a moment and I will get him for you."

I only had to do this 3 or 4 more times before she became much more polite on the phone.

[BrokenPaw]

It goes both ways.  I have consistently failed to understand how it is that the receptionist here at my company has failed to be fired at least 400 times.

This Monday, I called in from a customer site, needing to talk to a co-worker whose direct-dial extension I didn't have.  The verbatim transcript (with no exaggeration, I promise) follows:

Receptionist: "Mmm....goodmorning....CompanyName."
BrokenPaw: "Good morning, may I speak with Mike Coworker, please?"
R:....
R:....  
R:....
Phone Console: "That is an invalid entry."
R:....
R:....
Phone Console: "That is an invalid entry."
R: "He's not taking calls."  

I suppose I can understand the learning curve involved in operating a telephone, given that she's only been the receptionist here for 17 years.

We have customers who know that she takes a lunch break every day from noon until 1 (whereupon the office manager covers the phones for her), and who will only call during that one-hour period, and will utterly flat-out refuse to call us at any other time of the day.

-BP

[tincat2]

the one that gets me is to be at a store or office, waiting in line for service, and the employee answers the phone and begins serving the caller's request while ignoring those who have been waiting-isn't this the same as butting in line?

[DrAmazon]

When I was a kid, my Dad was an "on call" adjuster for a phone in claim service.  The service would direct calls to our home from time to time.  Needless to say,  I had telephone courtesy drilled into me from a very young age.  

Funny thing is, my Dad was the absolutely rudest person on earth if the telephone woke him up from a nap.  Mom's girlfriends have dozens of stories about "waking up the sleeping bear".

The other place where courtesy is out the window is e-mail.  My fellow professors and I get many lunchtime giggles and head shakes from the e-mails our students send us.  Some of them seem to have NO appreciation that a bit of manners and propriety might be in order.  Here's a fictional example I made up from our lunchtime chats...

2:02 am

DUDE!  i wasnt able 2 come to ur class 2-day :-(  miss anything?  pls reply ASAP

3:05 am

still wnting 2 no what i missed where R U?

4:05 am
Im not sure why u rnt answering my email  if u dont reply asap, like, i wont b bl 2 take the exam.  extension please! :-)

[El Tejon]

Amazing!  Simply amazing!

Tonight I am in the office working late clearing my desk after being in federal court in Indy all day.  I order Thai food for dinner.

The driver calls me when he gets to the lobby of my building AND DOES NOT LEAVE A NUMBER on my system's voicemail!  "Call me at this number, bye." 

WTF?  I yelled at the bimbo manager for 10 minutes.  Unbelievable, what fool would not leave their number yet expect a call.

It's the f*****g technology that will destroy us all.

[grampster]

I have caller ID.  If I don't recognize the # I don't answer the phone.  Saves a lot of grief with unwanted calls.

My pet peeve came from my working days.  I was in business and 90% of my contact with clients was over the phone.  My phone would ring and I'd pick it up and give my polite, dulcet toned answer of "Hello, this is Grampster, may I help you?"  The caller would then start talking without identifying h/h self; like I'm supposed to know who I'm talking to. That sort of carries over into when one meets an acquaintance in public.  I always greet someone that is not a close friend by saying hello and stating my name. Sure takes the edge off, especially if the acquaintance is with a wife/husband so they can introduce that person without the embarrasement of revealing that h/s can't remember your name.