The boss asked what I thought was an odd question: “How do I contact someone when all I know is their telephone extension?” I answered that she should dial 1, area code, first three digits of the main number, followed by the extension.
”No,“ a co-worker said, “That won’t work.” This co-worker is my age.
”No,” I said, “I just did that to call a friend two weeks ago to commemorate his ten-year work anniversary.”
”Did he pick up?”
”I left a message.”
“You do know they got rid of the phones a few years ago.”
I looked at the corner of my desk. True, there was no phone there. “Well,” I said, “I lost my phone when we moved floors. That just means my calls come through the computer now and the software forwards it to my cell.”
”What software?” The software, evidently, that my old computer had and his did not. My software said no one had left me a message since 2024.
I asked a young person how he made calls to co-workers.
”Calls?” he said, “Like on a phone? I don’t do anything with phones at work.” Then he looked at me as if I thought Marge and the girls were manning the switchboard in the basement.
I truly cannot imagine how a company can run this way. What happens when I get a new computer and the software is gone and calls no longer forward to my cell? What happens to all those doctors’ forms that ask me for my work extension?
Most of all, why does everybody’s email signature include their work phone number? It’s not like we can text an extension. Or can we? I don’t know anything anymore.
