Every couple
of weeks I receive quite bizarre telephone calls from random Singaporeans. They
always start the same way and instantly arouse my suspicion. It is possible
that they are telemarketers. I rarely give them the opportunity to explain the
purpose of their phone call as I am not particularly interested. I confound
them by answering their questions with questions of my own. I received such a
call a few minutes ago.
"Hello"
"Hello"
"Is
this Mr. Peter?"
"Possibly.
Who is this?"
The norm is
that they ignore my return question.
"Mr.
Peter Charles?"
This is also a
very strange thing. In Singapore they ask me my first name and then they add my
middle name. It is rare that they actually ask me what my surname is. I have no
idea why.
"This
might be Mr. Peter Charles but it also might not. To whom am I speaking
please?"
Silence.
"Hello
are you there?"
"Hello.
Is this Mr. Peter Charles?"
"I am
not prepared to say whether I am or I am not Mr. Peter Charles until I have
established who you are. What is your name please?"
Silence again.
"Hello?"
"This
is Singtel"
Singtel is not
a person it is an entity. It is a very large telecommunications entity. Singtel
is an abbreviation of Singapore Telecommunications. They are not my carrier
though. They never have been. I have no account with this organization.
"Singtel
is not a person. It is a Company. What is your name please?"
Silence
"Hello?"
"This
is Singtel"
"Your
name is Singtel?"
"No
Mr. Peter"
"I
think we have established already that my name may or may not be Mr.
Peter"
"You
are not Mr. Peter?"
"I
might not be"
Silence again.
"Hello?"
"I am
from Singtel"
"You
already said that. I am from Australia"
"You
are Mr. Peter Charles?"
"I
could be. I could also be from Singtel. What is your name and the purpose of
this call please?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
"Hello"
"Goodbye"
"Goodbye"
Then they hung
up. I can say with some confidence that we were both unsatisfied with the
content and the outcome of the call.
It went
nowhere.
No comments :
Post a Comment