I call it a disaster because no one is at their desk or wherever there work place may be. In essence, if you do leave a voice mail, you are talkin g to their shadow. You have no idea when this person will hear their voice mail. They may or may not return your call.
I belong to the generation that had telephone switchboard operators to take your call, then ring the number you give them. This could be a large company switch board or a small town operator who transfered calls. Usually, these were pleasant people frequently adding a note of cheer to your morning or afternoon as the case may be. I have seen witchboard rooms with as many as 200 switchboard operators taking calls. I was behind one of these switchboards at an Airbase in Amarillo Texas the day news came of President Roosevelt’s death. I can tell you that entire room was a behive of activity the rest of that day. There was a persoanl element going into each of these calls. There was no such thing as voice mail..
I can go back even further when 3 shorts and a long were your signal to answer your telephone. Your 3 shorts and a long telephone was anchored to your wall usually in the kitchen of the home. The lady of the house could also listen in on her neighbors conversations and this practice was understood by all. This is how the local news was spread in the various communities that had these kinds of phones. Very few communities had telephones in each home.
It was the highlight of the day for the ladies to speculate what Ma Perkings or Stella Dallas would be doing in their next Radio broadcast. Each day begining about 10:00 am through 12 noon, these ladies would have their radios turned up loud and could be heard as you walked by their homes. AS a lad making a trip to the store, I would pass by these avenues of adventure. Then after their lunches, the 3 shorts and a long box would get perhaps another hour of use. Well all of that is echoes of a past generation.
Those of us who remember these days, do not really like the cell phone but have come to use it with reservations. We use ours for insurance of safety while on the highway. Otherwise seldom use it. I marvel at young families today, say with two kids Mom and Dad of course have one of these tiny boxes, then both kids have one. At the rate I pay for ours, ($45.00 per month), this would mean $180.00 per month for that family. I have seen 6 year olds who seem to be masters in the usage of these things. Now let me tell you where the disaster part of my story comes in.
Take Hospitals for example, Every Nurse, technicians, Aides, Doctors and maintenance people all carry one of these things. I can call to talk to a bank manager at my bank and the typical answer is, “I am away from my desk right now, but leave a voice mail and I will get back to you as soon as possible.” Now doesn’t this kind of response irritate the daylights out of you? How can business be conducted in this manner. The truth is that all too often the business suffers for lack of good communication. These facilities or employers are losing billions of dollars in lost production of their employes becausse of this little box- and it’s personal usage during business hours.
This current generation has become so addicted to this magical box of echoes that they must make their replies while driving through morning traffic on their way to work- Or when going anywhere fore that matter. It seems the minute they get behind the wheel of their car,. they simply must call someone to give them their latest bit of -who knows what?– I place these peoples in the same category as those who must stop by a bar for happy hour on their way home from work. They are a menace to the streets and highways.,
Some of our cities are gradually seeing the light and passing laws against their usage while driving.-
I was in my own Accounting business for 43 years.- I was not in the telephone book for 33 of those years. Why? because I learned during my first 10 years that the telephone could be a menace to your business in time consuming dialogue. I invested in 24 hour answering service (a real human answering my phones during off business hours-and in the afternoons of each work day. Otherwise, my clients could talk with me persoanlly anytime they wished so long as it was during the morning hours between 9:00 am and 12 noon. They had been told in letters that this would be my way of doing business. Believe me, it cut down on unnecessary phone time and enabled me to get my head work done. My clients were happy with this. So you see, the personal touch can mean a great deal. This method of doing business enabled me to have free time and my business associates were always asking me how I managed to have so much fee time.
To me, it is about as bad as going to a restaraunt – that could have a sign at the door saying come back later in the day and we will fix your meal if we are not too busy. –
Yep, I enjoyed the good ole days when 3 short and a long were the rule of the day.
