I have a strange, very minor hearing impairment which occasionally interferes with my ability to pick up and identify voices over the telephone. Frustrating, to say the least.
This morning, the telephone rang and I picked it up to hear the voice of an important client. I greeted him cheerfully, only to hear him “confirm our appointment for 12:30.”
Which seems fine, except that my calendar shows no appointments for today. And this particular client’s issues don’t require meetings (not with him, anyway). And I have no recollection of schedulingthis meeting. And no idea why the client needs to see me (or wants to…).
At which point I listen carefullyand realize I no longer recognize the voice.
Now I have a choice: admit my error and look the fool, or keep listening and see whether I can identify the speaker by content rather than tone.
Igo with option #2 (remembering the old adage about keeping one’s mouth shut -which statistically 85% of you know and 4% of you listen to). I listen carefully but with growing concern, realizing that eventually the client will expect me to say something of consequence and that”could you please spell yourlast name for me” (a frequent fallback in similar situations) probably won’t get me out of this one. Before long, I begin wondering how to gracefully inform this pleasant-sounding man that despite my earlier greeting I cannot recognize his voice.At last,I realize with relief that this individual (a joint client) needs to speak with my law partner, not with me (though his identity still escapes me). I hand off the call, leaving the client none the wiser (though possibly somewhat confused).
Bullet dodger – party of me.
All of which leaves me wondering whether The Random Spouse’s jokes about hearing aids might contain some grain of truth.
Nah.
I probably just heard them wrong.
Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Perri Nelson’s Website, Rosemary’s Thoughts, and Conservative Cat, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
