Voicemail...

In general, I like my job most days, and others it is certainly more than tolerable to go and take home a paycheck every other Friday. Also, in the current economic times I am not about to complain about having any job, period, let alone one that pays well and provides ample benefits. It is, however, human nature to focus on those aspects of life that are 'less than stellar'. I try to keep this in mind when I think about others, as I tend to find myself dwelling on their shortcomings, and not enough on what they do well, but I too revert to the pessimistic perspective from time to time.

Long story short, one of those aspects of my job that I am often times displeased with is the phone. I don't necessarily like talking on the phone (you can ask just about anyone that knows me). If it were professional to text all my peers at work, I would! Unfortunately for me, it is not, and I must at times verbally convey my message or answer a question. Secondly, the only thing worse than having to actually pick up the phone to talk to someone, is to see visually that someone wants me to call them. Here lies my dread of that little red light in the bottom corner of my phone console... the Voicemail light! Whenever I see this light on, my stomach sinks. Who could it be? What could they want? Inevitably, I always think that it is going to be some crazy question from someone who wants me to solve their problem for them (pessimistic perspective again! It's permanently linked to the Voicemail button). Regardless, it means I am going to have to pick up Alexander Graham Bell's masterpiece and talk to someone. This voicemail message was particularly upsetting, as it occurred as a direct result of my being on the phone in the first place, and missing the initial call! So here I was, on the phone in the middle of a 25 minute conversation with someone, who let's say I fail to recognize their 'positive contributions' on a regular basis, and the abhorrent light illuminates! Ugh! And why does it have to be red of all colors? Green might make me less apprehensive about the concept, but the creators of this particular unit wanted me to cringe at the sight. They succeeded!

So, as you can imagine, the pending phone conversation was going to be even worse than the current 25 minute one, right? I might as well clear the work schedule for the rest of the day, as this was going to take forever. Maybe we would have to resume it the next day! OK, all of this is perhaps a little over-dramatic, but you are surely expecting a wretched conversation ensuing. Well, nope. It was mild, really. It was merely a representative from the state calling me to let me know that he had worked on my issue regarding viewing a particular report, and to call me if I had any further trouble.

I guess that my fear was for nothing at all, and it was actually a result of a conversation I initiated. Oops... my bad.

Side-note #1: I did initiate the conversation via email, so why not continue that route?

Side-note #2: Yes, I did just ramble on what seemed like forever about a red light on my phone. This is exactly what my fiance gets from me on a daily basis, but for some reason it is one of her favorite aspects of my personality. I truly am a lucky man!