The Five Minute Phone Call With No One

<dialing 555-6242.>

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

(maybe 8-10 more rings.)

An answer!
"5-5-5-6-2-4-2. Is not available. To leave a message, please wait for the tone. Then record your message. After you record your message, you may hang up. Or, press 5 to replay your message. Or, press 2 to edit your message. Or, press 3 to delete your message. Or, press 1 to record another message. Or, press 6 to hang up, redial, AND record another message. Or, press 7 to hear this message again. Or, press 8 to change THIS message. Or press 9 for more options."

BEEP.

<Forget who I was calling in the first place.>

Ok, honestly, that is slightly exaggerated. But I was calling multiple people yesterday for work, to try to set up some interviews with job applicants. I quickly tired of hearing that I may hang up when I am finished recording. Really? I thought maybe I should stay on the line just to make sure my message was taken successfully. Why did our cell phone companies think that this new technology would cause us to forget how answering machines worked?

On one of the phone calls I made, I was greeted with something else: A recorded song. It was an enjoyable tune, but when it started the second verse, I hung up. Please note: If you're applying for jobs, leaving a long outgoing message on your phone is one of those things you're not supposed to do.

After having a hard time finding quality applicants who A) had a working phone number and B) actually answered or called back, I eventually had to call that one back and hear the rest of the song. It wasn't that enjoyable.