Sunday 17 January 2016

"Can I Put You on Hold?"

“Can I put you on hold?”

It’s a common question, and one that doesn’t require an answer because the person asking usually doesn’t wait for a reply. After all, if you’ve called, it can be assumed you’ll wait for your turn to get your call answered.

I’m used to hearing that awful music with the intermittent “Your call is important....” message coming on to, I suppose, let me know I haven’t been forgotten.

I didn’t think I’d ever miss that music and those vague messages telling me my call will be answered by the next available person. Lately, when I’ve been on hold, I’ve heard nothing but silence. A silence that caught me off guard and made me think I’d been disconnected instead of put in a ‘holding pattern’.

I think, looking back, that I might have hung up on the waiting, thinking the silence meant that I’d been cut off.

The other day I hung in and listened to the silence. Not one to waste time, I checked E-mails, looked at the new postings on Facebook and played a game of Freecell Solitaire. I was rewarded for my patience when the speaker finally responded and I was able to get my business done.

A win/win.

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