Sad Irony

... is found in this news headline today:

Heart Attack Kills Owner of Landmark Philly Cheesesteak Stand

Phone Rage

In our popular culture these days, telephone voice mail systems are the targets of both comedians and critics, for the same reason: It is difficult to connect with an actual living person.

Certain organizations – Verizon comes to mind – are particularly egregious in this regard. And a relatively new wrinkle is the voice mail systems’ attempts to get you the caller to go away by recommending that you visit the organization’s web site. In most cases the reason I have called is because I have already tried the organization’s web site.

But today brought yet another new twist. Today’s call was made to my health insurer, which shall remain nameless but includes the words united, health, and care. The voice mail menu offered an option for callers who were “members” (me) or “physicians” (not me.) I selected the option for members, and was presented with a new set of options that included one for members and one for physicians.

Didn’t I just answer that? It was as if the voice mail was asking if I was really really sure that I was a member.

It got worse. I was then presented with a list of options that included what I wanted, information about referrals. Once I selected that option I was given a new list of options which, you guessed it, included an option for information about referrals.

Maybe the voice mail system is hard of hearing. I SAID, INFORMATION ABOUT REFERRALS!

No wonder people are so on edge these days. The economy is in a tailspin, government is dysfunctional, and you can’t even get a simple answer on the phone.