I’ve spent this afternoon on the phone with pleasant switchboard operators at medical firms across Canada, doing research for a client. I have discovered, much to my surprise, that handling a phone in a non-retail environment is much less stressful than I had expected.

It’s good for a couple of laughs here and there, too. For example, at one point I called Proctor & Gamble, and jumped through the hoops required by their electronic phone system that sorts you around – you know, the ones that keep asking, “If you have called for information on X, press 1 now”. One of the choices I encountered was, “If you are calling for information on the Proctor & Gamble warehouse sale, please press 3 now.”

Warehouse sale? For a pharmaceutical firm?

I pondered it as I pressed buttons routing me (eventually) to the information I needed, and laughed at the ludicrous image it conjured up.

Warehouse sale, indeed.