18. Operator!

Musing Interruptus is a podcast for sharing thoughts and stories and enjoying idiomatic phrases and words. You can read along; the transcription is in the description of this episode. The idiomatic expressions are in italics. Try to get the meaning from the context and then look them up to see if you were right. If you like it, share it, but more importantly, continue the conversation. The music is called Copper Halls by Blue Dot Hello, Welcome. I’m Renée Valentina and this is Musing Interruptus. Today, Operator! — Operator. Hello, operator. — Yes. How may I direct your call? I need you to connect me with area code 412 55 38 88 27 74, please.  — Please hold for just a minute; I’ll connect.  Hey, operator, could you stay on the line in case I lose my nerve? — Well, I really shouldn’t.  No, you don’t understand. I really need to deliver this message, and it won’t be easy. — Ok, caller, I’m here for you. How much is this going to cost me? — 12 dollars for the first 3 minutes and four dollars for each additional minute. What is this? 1969?!  —Yes,  I’ll connect you. I can see the operator now, at her switchboard, with cables, and headset, ready to help create a bridge of communication. You’ve got the message and vehicle; the operator is ready to assist you. That is how we used to place calls. It was a very social and public event. If you didn’t have a phone in your home, you might have to go to a phone booth. This is a special house for a phone. Isn’t that something? Imagine all the calls operators received asking for help, information, and to connect. The closest thing we’ve got today is customer service agents and tech support in the companies that haven’t replaced humans with artificial intelligence. Getting a person on the other end of the line is becoming increasingly difficult. That seems to be the most troublesome aspect of this situation. We are connecting less and less. There are fewer humans on the other end of our need to communicate. Lots of communication is motivated by the urgency to solve a problem or fulfill a need. I want my needs fulfilled by a human, please. There are more automated messages pretending that the problem I have is so unique that there is no message programmed to help me. I get stuck in a loop, moving back and forth between menus. I just really want to talk to a human, please! They will understand I just need to know when to pick up my glasses or when I call the bank, I’d like to know that all those numbers I punched in will pay off and result in actually fixing my issue. Mr. Menu cannot do that, I need a human. I mean, seriously, if I just wanted to know my balance I wouldn’t take all this time out of my life! Hmm The lesser evil to the elimination of humans or humanity from the equation is that the pomp and circumstance have also been removed. Placing a call required a bit of thought and preparation. It used to cost more, so depending on your budget, you would want that call to count. Long-distance calls could cost you 4 dollars a minute. Imagine that! Today, we can use our internet connection to call anyone with and internet ready device, and we can even connect to a landline. The operator used to announce you, or rather, announce your call. That seems very elegant to me. Nowadays, you are at the mercy of caller ID. The transition between operators connecting calls and the use of personal telephones saw the advent of caller ID- Don’t get me started on caller ID, that has taken all the fun out of prank or crank calls and my adolescent favorite, calling someone to hear in them pick up and say hello? And then hang up! At 13, that lingering hello could last me ages. What a rush.  Now, if you don’t want to