Do you know what my favorite thing is?  It’s when I answer the phone and connect the caller with the party they wish to reach, and I hear the phone ring four times in a back office - the person’s out at lunch, or in a meeting.  And then my phone rings again, it’s the same person, calling to say, “Hi, you just transferred me to [name of colleague], and I got their voicemail?”

What, exactly, do you want me to do?  I always say, “Did you leave a message?”  And a lot of times they say, “No.”  They don’t want to reach the person later, they want them now, even if that means I’d have to run to a restaurant I haven’t been told about and fetch them.  The best part of this is that these are often the same people who think they can walk by my desk and “just drop by to chat” with the people whose offices are behind me, because they’re friendly.  Yes, too friendly to say that you’re bothering them, in fact.  These people always act slightly offended when I stop them and go to ask if it’s all right for an unannounced visitor to eat a half-hour of my co-workers’ time.  I would NEVER treat a visitor or caller with any sort of disdain or disrespect, but I do sometimes wish a few of them had a little bit more common sense.

Actual truth is I love my job, and I relish many of the opportunities I get - the other day, a class of high-school seniors dropped by and I gave a 45-minute admissions presentation, impromptu.  I got applause at the end. :)