telephone etiquette

Well today I was struck again by how pleasant followers of Christ can be. Well, I am assuming the lady I was speaking with was a Christian because she was employed at a Christian school. So I will set up this story for you, hopefully it will make you laugh. After the shock wore off I laughed but at first I had to bite my tongue...

In case you don't know I work at a Christian organization, we provide services for Christian schools. I work with coordinating events and some of these events are hosted by our member schools.
Today I was trying to get in touch with one of our hosts, she had left a message, I had left a message, I never heard back. Then I got a message from her regional office saying she has not ever heard from me. So I was already a little put out because I had left a message and then she never called me back but called someone else to say I was not returning her call. So I decide to call her back, again.

A lady answers the phone and I am hoping it is her so I put my smile on and say, "Hello, is {lady's name} available?"

The lady on the phone responds, "*insert exasperated sigh here* Well if she was available she would have answered the phone... Give her 15 minutes and try again. *insert deep throaty sigh here*" I wish I could have recorded this so you could get the tone. It was scary.

That was it, that was all, I thought it was quite sweet, and professional I might add. She could have at least asked who was calling or if I wanted to leave a message. I was actually speechless for a second and then considered giving her Receptionist Etiquette 101 along with a big piece of my mind but thought better of it. Maybe she will do respond that way when her boss calls sometime. I hope.

Ok, just thought I would share that nice little part of my afternoon with you.

And for the record, I called back 12 minutes later and my lady answered the phone and I asked if she was available. She didn't say of course, duh, I answered the phone.

Have a great day!

ae