Sarcastic Saturday - Cell Phones and Time Zones

© Nomad_Soul

© icafreitas

I ran into a situation this week I've never experienced. It was so totally absurd it deserves to be in the spotlight. What better way to share it than with a Sarcastic Saturday post?

I was following up on something for a company I work closely with and needed to contact somebody I've never met on a business issue. The area code was 202, Washington D.C. It was a weekday and I figured I'd try and catch him early before the usual challenges of business took over. I called at 8:00 am EST and left a polite message. At 9:30 am EST before my day got crazy I tried one more time, assuming like all of us in business, his day was going to get crazy too.

Well, I got a call back from him, screaming multiple F-bombs because I woke him up at 5:00 and again at 6:30 am. Turns out he's based on the west coast. So, my checking the location for his area code accomplished nothing. Later in the day I got an email from him in response to one I sent him:

To be clear it was a 5am and 6:30am call.  Even by east coast standards, 8am is early for a call.  I have no issue telling someone to f***off after calling me not once, but twice before the break of dawn.  

So, in celebration of the first Sarcastic Saturday post in a long time, here's my point...

• My cell phone number goes back to when I lived in California. I've had the number for approximately 16 years! Because it's area code 310, and we now live on the east coast, I've often gotten calls at odd hours, which is why God created on/off buttons. My phone is shut off in the evening and back on in the morning when I start my day.
  
• I don't care who you are, demonstrating your linguistic skill set with your use of the F-bomb only makes you a hot head, especially when it's somebody you don't know and a business call besides. There are some times when the F-bomb is truly one of the all time perfect words, but not right out of the gate!
• If you've got a short fuse and can't see the other side of issues that upset you then learn to just zip it! Oh if it were only that easy.
  
• Last on the list - everyone needs to learn to follow my buddy Levi Sim's golden rule, "Act as if your grandmother is watching you!"

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Wishing everybody a terrific start of the weekend. And, if you're plagued by calls you don't want, at times you don't want them, then shut off your phone!

Note: The "vintage" cell phone image really has little to do with the post. I just loved the concept! LOL

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