Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Smoking at work

Phone up a big central London agency.

Me: Good afternoon, are you accepting submissions?

Long pause.

‘Yah,’ says a young man. He sounds stoned.

Me: Great. Who do I address it to?

Him: Uh, (another long pause) I guess that would be… uh, me.

I wait for him to tell me his name. He doesn't.

Me. Can I have your name please?

Him. Yah, of course… It’s XXX. But there’s like a really long wait, like maybe even six months. (pause) Or something.



Next phone call:

Me: Good afternoon. Are you…

(Stern-sounding woman interrupts)

Her: I’m on the other line.

Me: No problem, should I call…

Her: Is this about submissions?

Me: Yes, I…

Her: Not for me. (she hangs up)

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