I got the weirdest phone call last night before I left work... the caller knew it was me, saying my name, and then told me to guess who he was. I guessed something and I can't be sure what transpired but now I'm just hoping it was not the person I guessed. All I know was that a lot of whispering went on and I wasn't sure what was being said or even who I was speaking to. It was all very confusing and I ended up hanging up.

My point is that answering the phones is a pain in the neck for (among other reasons) the very fact that you become a captive audience. You can't not answer - it's your job. You can't disguise your voice - it's already out there. It's not like when bill collectors used to call and I would politely tell them I was not there at the moment and could I take a message? Now I have the blissful invention known as caller ID at home and I never get stuck talking to someone I don't want to talk to.

But at work, people can find me and I don't like it. Not just strange whisperers, but coworkers that need my help, or sales people asking 20 questions, or wrong numbers, or prank callers, I have to deal with it all. It must be karmic retribution for all those times I avoided bill collectors by "forgetting" to give myself the message.  ¶ 5:05 PM