Greetings!

I just had to call the Coca Cola Company for work – because our vending machine dollar feeder is broken. When the lady hung up she said, “Have a classic day!”

What is a classic day? I didn’t get it… until I realized that “Coca Cola classic” is their thing. Hate it.

I’m glad I only have to do generic greetings, “Good afternoon” and the like. I’ve had to write up signs before for our elevators and I had to write, “We’re inspired to meet you!” Which really doesn’t make any sense, if you think about it. So, I’m glad I don’t have to say, “Good afternoon, I’m inspired to talk to you” because, I’m not. I don’t know if this person is going to inspire me or not!

But, when I worked at Build-A-Bear workshop, I had to answer the phone like this “Thank you for calling Build-A-Bear Workshop, where best friends are made! How may I make your day?”

And the reason I probably got fired was because I didn’t WANT to make anyone’s day, and I certainly didn’t want to ask anyone how I could do it, because I didn’t cater to them. They were going to have their day made however I wanted their day to be made. Am I right? So, yeah, it was that… or the whole fact that children visibly annoyed me… when I was leading their birthday parties.

Phone greetings mess me up though. Every time I start a new job, I answer in former greetings I’ve had to use. I’ve answered the phones at AMP as “Good afternoon, Improv Asylum”. At Improv Asylum, I’d answer with the MFA store greeting. And at the MFA store, I answered in the Build-A-Bear way.

Yet, people still trust me to answer phones for their businesses. Maybe it’s because of my sunny disposition and welcoming deep voice. Maybe one day, I won’t have to be the “voice” of a company – and I’ll be able to hide away in the back of some office doing what I want to do without having to tell anyone good morning or good evening – and the only person’s day that I will be making is my own.