Thank you for waiting – Your call is important to us!

These ambivalent words fill us with frustration
Do we believe that anyone cares?
Is ours simply a voice from somewhere in the nation
And of our exasperation they remain unaware

Then on comes that music meant to calm and to soothe
If it hesitates for a moment we are then filled with hope
But it soon resumes its beat and its rhythm so smooth
And we are left to wonder how we might cope

For if our call is important why can’t they reply
Have the staff all gone AWAL – disappeared home?
Where have they run to and please tell us why
They should stick by their station and not from it roam

To our relief the music is suddenly muted
To be followed by silence that seems almost eerie
Perhaps our ‘valuable call’ has just been re-routed
In our suspension, this seems a reasonable theory

But no amount of conjecture seems to bring a result
And when the music resumes we almost explode
To our injured feelings this just adds further insult
And our blood pressure surely is in overload

However, a few seconds later we hear the sweet tones
Of the missing operator who was till now so illusive
But instead of assaulting her ears with all our pent-up moans
Overwhelming relief  stops us from being quite abusive

Perhaps if we could learn in such moments of tension
To just bide our time and learn to forebear
Not filled with such unjustified apprehension
Then our life would be freed from such futile despair

Ken Fisher

See also: Cold Calling