sl@van-bc.UUCP (Stuart Lynne) (05/27/90)
In article <8194@accuvax.nwu.edu> David Lesher <wb8foz@mthvax.cs. miami.edu> writes: }ojo: Why did they have to change the 911 emergency phone number in }<neighboring state>? }Because the <natives> couldn't find the eleven on their phones. So they changed it to 9-1-1. I hope we don't have an emergencies here, my phone doesn't have a "-" key! Stuart.Lynne@wimsey.bc.ca ubc-cs!van-bc!sl 604-937-7532 (voice) 604-939-4768 (fax)
craig@gendep.info.com (Craig Dickson) (05/28/90)
This isn't strictly a telecom matter, but I was reminded of it by your recent remark along the lines of, "If you want to know how stupid people can be, try working on a telephone switchboard." A friend of mine works for a bank here in California, in the Electronic Fund Transfer (I think that's what they call it) department. If you think you get dummies on a switchboard, then you have no idea what people will do with ATM's. People feed ATM's all sorts of cards. Drivers licenses, Social Security cards, anything. People damage their cards and try to tape them back together. One idiot even tried to feed a machine a card that had been torn in half and then STAPLED back together. (After the repair bill the bank sent him, he probably will never do that again.) Some people try to TALK to the machines. But this is my all-time favorite of the weird-but-true anecdotes she tells me: A couple of weeks after San Francisco's davastating earthquake last year, she got an irate call from a customer in that city, demanding to know why his local ATM still wasn't working. She asked what branch that was, and he said, "The Marina branch." After taking a few seconds to recover from her surprise, she said, as calmly as possible, "Does the fact that the building is missing two walls and the roof suggest anything to you?"
rmadison@euler.berkeley.edu (Linc Madison) (05/28/90)
Well, my own Sainted Mother not-so-very-many years ago asked me where to find the "plus" for "one-plus" dialing.... (Realio-trulio) Linc Madison = rmadison@euler.berkeley.edu
cramer@uunet.uu.net> (05/31/90)
In article <8351@accuvax.nwu.edu>, craig@gendep.info.com (Craig Dickson) writes: # If you think you get dummies on a switchboard, then you # have no idea what people will do with ATM's. ..... # After taking a few seconds to recover from her surprise, she said, as # calmly as possible, "Does the fact that the building is missing two # walls and the roof suggest anything to you?" I've got one almost as good. My wife was working as a teller for Santa Monica Bank in the early 1980s, when ATMs were still a bit of a novelty. One day, a guy with a very pronounced New York City accent walked in and informed them -- rather loudly and angrily -- "Hey! Your coffee machine don't work!" and stalked out. It took them several minutes to figure out that he was attempting to purchase coffee from the ATM. Clayton E. Cramer {pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer Disclaimer? You must be kidding! No company would hold opinions like mine!