It happens more often than not anymore. You pick up the phone to call a business. Almost any business. There’s a flat monotone on the other end.
“Who? He’s not here.”
“Well, do you expect him back today.”
“I don’t know.”
“Can I leave a message?
“What is it?”
“Well, can I have his voice mail?”
“I suppose.”
We laugh sometimes at the Eagleland Businessplex about the opposite – the bright voice proclaiming that “It’s a great day at Willie’s Widget World.”
But with the death of customer service apparently at hand, those bright voices become less funny. And fewer.
I give it six months until “What do you want?” becomes the standard receptionist’s line in Wichita.