Language barriers can offer comic relief when viewed in the correct frame of mind…
Rrrrrinnnngg, Rrrriiiinnnngggg (that would be my office line)
Caller: You call me?
Me: Um, I am not sure. Your name please?
Caller: Why I give you my name? You call me!
Me: No, sir. You just called me.
Caller: You left message. I call back.
Me: Sir, I did not call you. Perhaps it was someone else here in the office. Your name please?
Caller: (yelling) I not tell name. You call me!
Me: (playing 20 questions) Sir, are you in the construction field?
Caller: (ignoring my question, asks one of his own) You make sponges? (At least I think that is what he asked. His Asian accent was very hard to understand.)
Me: No sir, we are an electrical contractor.
Caller: Then why you call me?
Me: Sir, I can only guess that it was a mis-dialed call.
Caller: OK, you tell him I call back.
Me: Who should I give this message to?
Caller: (again yelling at me) You call me!
Oy! My head is aching.
Me: OK, I will tell him that you called.
I printed a memo and placed it on every desk:
The man you may or may not have called regarding the sponges returned your call.
March 19, 2008 at 9:48 am
You called that guy too!
March 19, 2008 at 3:14 pm
NO! He called me!
March 19, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Well noone has called me back yet!
March 19, 2008 at 9:45 pm
hahahaha I love messing with people on the phone. Nice one :p
Loco
March 19, 2008 at 10:45 pm
You are sooo patient! I would have hung up on the crazy, ranting creepazoid!
March 20, 2008 at 1:02 am
I would have busted up laughing at he dude. That is crazy funny.
March 20, 2008 at 10:49 am
Red ~ I should have known it was you. You had me fooled, pretending all this time to be Irish.
I think I will make a post of my favorite ways to mess with people on the phone.
March 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I’m dying to know what he wanted to know about sponges. Was he trying to find super-absorbant spunges? Was he concerned about an anti-bacterial additive? We’ll never know now, since you didn’t have the decency to answer his simple question
March 20, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Gosh Allison, who knows? A co-worker poked his head in my office and asked if this guy left a number. I asked if the call was for him and he said, “No, I just want to call him and explain basic phone rules.”
I imagine if I would have asked for his number, he would have screamed, “You have my number. You called me.”
March 22, 2008 at 3:48 am
Heehee.
March 26, 2008 at 6:27 pm
haha – “I printed a memo and placed it on every desk:” that is clasic!!! Love it!!