Remember what it was like to pick up your phone and have a real person on the other end? That’s not always the case in today’s high tech, let’s-make-things-easier world. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like talking to a “robot” or a machine. To be honest, I feel foolish talking to someone who isn’t really talking to me.
My parents paid for me to have elocution lessons, and I was a speech and drama major, so I think I speak fairly well and clearly — although Husband Joe claims not to understand me, but that’s another story.
The other day I was attempting to call information to get the phone number for Vesuvio’s Bakery (I needed to order St. Joseph’s cakes). I followed the proper procedure when asking for a listing in North Riverside.
However, the information robot gave me the number of a bakery in Chicago with a name not even close to Vesuvio. Perplexed, I decided to attempt getting the number again — same problem. By now my frustration was leading to anger. AT&T is a communication company and we were having a failure to communicate.
Now I am determined to get what I need and it was a battle I was not going to lose. Hitting the “0” button and listening to my list of choices, I finally heard a voice. “Are you a real person?” I immediately asked.
He assured me he was and even sneezed, further proof. I blessed him for more than the sneeze. I proceeded to explain my dilemma and he asked me if I was disabled — well, my leg is bothering me, does that count? He said he would switch me to another real person who also apologized for all I had gone through and I got the information I needed. Thank you, thank you real people.
After all of that, family and friends got their St. Joseph’s cakes. Believe me, after the first luscious bite, all was forgotten it was worth the effort.
So there we are. The machine person had a nice voice but didn’t really care. The two real people did care. By the way, go to Vesuvio’s and get a St. Joseph cake (zeppole) — they have them all the time. Yum!
