Everyone knows it’s seldom good when the phone rings at 2:00 am. Most likely, it’s not going to be Publisher’s Clearing House telling you that, “Yes! We finally have a winner! And it’s you!”
Other types of communication can also strike fear into one’s heart. Thankfully, there are no longer telegrams from the War Department, but seeing a uniformed military officer together with a garbed priest coming up the walk while your son or daughter is in combat isn’t going to make you feel warm and fuzzy.
And then there are those types of communication that are simply annoying. We’ve all experienced them – the dinner-time telemarketers, the overly friendly co-worker you managed to brush off during the workday.
Here’s a short list (in no particular order) of beginning sentences that are sure to get your heart rate up and your head pounding. Feel free to add your own.
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“Mo-om? I just got in an accident. Can you come?” (sounds of approaching sirens in the background)
“911. Please hold.”
“Good evening. This is Detective Smith from the Town Police Department.” (Do you know where all your kids are tonight?)
“Mrs. Peters? This is Dr. Jones. I just got your test results.”
“Good morning, this is Miz Jones from the Internal Revenue Service.”
“Hello, I’m calling about your loan application …” (seldom good when they need “just a little more information”).
“Hi, this is Tiffany’s room mother, calling about tomorrow’s bake sale …” (darn, got the note, ignored it)
“Hello, this is the School Administration Office” (oh lordy, what has she done now?)
“Hello, I’m calling about the warranty on your car ...” (said car being one you turned in approximately 10 years ago)
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And let’s not forget communication by signage:
Detour Ahead
Open During Construction
We’ve Moved! (If it’s on the door of the emergency vet clinic, that’s a very bad thing at 2:00 a.m. Trust me, I know)
Exact Change Only (many people only carry credit cards)
ATM Out of Service (see above)
Open Other End (oops)
Produced With Genetic Engineering (Say what? I just ate the whole thing!)
Best When Used By … (Wow, that was in the cupboard a really long time – does botulism trump genetic engineering? [I just ate the whole thing!])
Do Not Enter (anyone else ever been tempted to try just to see what would happen?)
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Jump right in, folks. Terrifying or just annoying – I’m sure you all have a miss-communication to share.
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Image by Cordelia’s Mom
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
We had the school call, our son’s a 14-year-old freshman at the time, and we’d already seen Facebook posts from students saying they heard another student brought a gun to school. We got a PR type call, saying the school did their investigation and no real threat was found and all students were safe. We ended up picking him up early, as most parents did.
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I would have picked my kid up, too. What a frightening call to receive!
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Yes, indeed! Children were posting how they’d been locked down in their classrooms for fear of a gun toting student. It was unsettling, to say the least.
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We worry so about our children. My husband was home one day when he there was what sounded like an explosion at the elementary school two blocks away. Our kids were in that school! He and every other parent ran to the school in panic. Fortunately, it was not a gunman or a bomb, it was a small earthquake and no one was injured. I’m glad my kids are grown and gone.
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That would’ve flipped me out, too. That’s scary but I’m glad it turned out alright. Nowadays, unfortunately, nothing is impossible.
Yeah…my little guy has me running with every bang and bump noise he makes. I think I have PTSD.
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This is a good list. My fav is when I enter a hotel to a sign that says “renovating to serve you better” and I know I’ll never be here again 🙁
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I hate staying in hotels that are being renovated. I like to sleep late, and those construction guys always start so early.
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I think my worst one is the foreign people call, “I’m going to remote repair your computer…” UH, No, You’re Not.
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I let a tech remote repair my computer once. Scared the heck out of me when that curser started going across the screen all by itself. The computer did get fixed, but I hope never to have to go through that again.
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I’ve done the same, but the ones who cold call, they are scams
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Haha….funny list, CM! I’ve received calls where the moment I said “Hello”, the caller replied, “Oops, sorry wrong number!” (っ- ‸ – ς)
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Better a wrong number than a telemarketer – or just dead air.
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Sitting in the car service waiting room and the worker with the clipboard comes out from the bays with this announcement just for you: “Your model seems to have an oil filter we don’t have in stock. But the parts supliers (down the block/in the next town/from the neighboring state) has it and we’re sending our shuttle driver right over.” Seems to happen too much for any sort of car service need, CM!
And don’t get me started about appointment time and real-chair time at the dentist …
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I hear you, Mark. I ran into that with my shredded tire a couple of years ago – didn’t stock the one I needed that matched the other 3 brand-new tires so I had to drive around on the donut for a couple of days. As for the dentist/doctor – how about “I don’t see an appointment for you on our calendar … “
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The missing appointment, ah, yes, CM.
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But to be fair, most of them do not call at 2AM. No, they ALL call around 8AM. I know. i got five this morning. TWO from Blue Cross to whom I said “Please go away” and she said “When can you be available for a chat” and I said “never” and then she called back for Garry (same plan) and I said “never because he is deaf and doesn’t use the phone” and she said “Evening?” and I said “never” and hung up. And then there were two calls with nothing on the other end … and the pharmacy reminding me to pick up the prescription. Happy Monday!
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I mostly just don’t answer the phone unless it’s a number from family member.
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