Take a Message

Society has had voice mail and answering machines for quite a while now, yet there are some people who just don't trust 'em. Some may think that a message will get there faster if someone personally delivers it, others are just older people who grew up using a pencil, a piece of paper and an abacus to do business. When the receptionist in my office leaves her desk, I have the wonderful honor of answering the incoming calls. Now, I'm sure there are people in the world who aren't in the habit of checking their voice mail frequently, but I've noticed that a lot more people do check than don't. But that doesn't stop callers from responding to "He stepped out for a few minutes, would you like his voicemail?" with "No, just give him this message…" which, by the time they're through talking, usually ends up scrawled across 3 or 4 consecutive Post-It Notes. Then you have the quandary of where to stick all these Post-Its. On their phone receiver? The computer screen? On their desk amidst all the other piles of paper covered with Post-It Notes? What if I wrote the phone number down wrong? What if I get so busy that I forget to trek all the way to the person's office to give them the message in a timely fashion? So much trust these callers have! On the technologically-impaired front, an older gentleman recently started working at my company. He's never touched a computer, nor has he ever used voice mail. He still tends to call the office wanting to know if he "has any messages," like something out of the 1950's! That's kind of right up there with celebrating the antiquated "Secretary's Day." I'm not sure if "secretaries" even exist in 1998, all I know is that if I'm the assistant to the CEO, I'm an Executive Assistant and I don't have the time to file my nails or make coffee.