I'm on hold...

as we speak.

I'm calling a government agency. This would suck, except for the fact that I keep getting tickled over this one thing. See, everybody at this office does this cute thing where they record their name (or job title, if they're not important enough) in their own voice. I'm sure they thought it was a great way to make their boring beaurocratic phone directory a little more personal. The person I'm trying to reach is someone called the Wage Hour Technician, and when she recorded her job title (because she's not important enough to have a name), she left a big long pause at the end. Now, when you're on hold at this office, they have a recording loop that starts with that little personal recording of the name of the person you're waiting on. It goes on to say that they're busy. Like so:

"[Personal recording] Wage Hour Technician... [/PR] is still busy. You are number 2 in line...

Then they play some music for a while and a calm voice reassures you that they haven't forgotten about you.

Here's what happened when I heard this loop the first couple of times:

Recording: "Wage Hour Technician..."

Me: Hi, I have a question about...

Recording: ...is still busy. You are number 2 in line.

Me: D'oh!

[Music...calm voice...]

Rec: "Wage Hour Technician..."

Me: Hi, I, uh...

Rec: ...is still busy. You are number 2 in line.

Me: Oh for the love.

[Music...calm voice...]

Rec: "Wage Hour Technician..."

Me: ...

Rec: ...is still busy...

Me: HA!

The thing is (and I am still on hold), I have been through this loop now at least twenty times, and each time I hear "Wage Hour Technician", I have to pause and give her a chance to say, "May I help you?" Then, when she doesn't, I feel like an idiot all over again.

This is getting pissy. But at least I'm number 1 in line now. Actually, I've been number 1 in line for the last 10 minutes. I hate the government.

Hear that, Bro? I hate the government. C'mon, bitch, arrest me. ARREST ME!