Trust the customer service people to call you during your busiest moments. I got such a call from my mobile company yesterday morning. Not wanting to commit to anything which would later add digits on my monthly bill I asked the person to call me in the evening.

I had just stepped out of the office when he dutifully called. Once I confirmed my number, he asked me my name. In my dictionary, this is as severe a crime as committed by those who call you and then demand to know who is speaking without first identifying themselves. So I told him that if he knew my number and was from the company he claimed to be from, he would have my name in the database. Thereupon he gave my name and asked me to confirm it - which I happily did.

He then proceeded to inform me that the net browsing facility had been turned on my phone. I got immediately alarmed and asked him if I was being billed for this. He said no. He said that I will also not be billed if I browsed any free sites - though download charges would apply. I would be, of course, billed for any non-free sites. By this time, I was beginning to show symptoms of attention-deficit-syndrome. So I reconfirmed what is going to cost me and what is free - once again. This must have given him an impression that he is speaking with someone with a pea-sized brain. I am pretty sure he went through the list just to be sure I got it all right. I admired his patience but was getting sort of bored with the whole conversation. However, my "he-is-just-doing-his-job" feeling was too strong to let me disconnect. Where in India do you find such hardworking people?

I was rescued however by his next question. As he needed to instruct me on how to set things up on my cell phone, he asked me if there was any other phone in sight. Jumping at the chance, I informed him that I was on my way home and would call their department later. Now, in my heart of hearts, I knew that I would never make that call because I hate the very concept of accessing my mails on cellphone. In fact, years ago, during one of my 'misanthropic' bouts I had remarked to one of my colleagues that the mobile phones should not have any incoming call facility. He had almost fell off the chair laughing!

So, the sum total of this long winding post is that I spent a good 10 minutes of my evening time politely listening to a customer service rep about a service that I am unlikely to use. Now that my weekly quota of patience and politeness is almost over, let this post be a warning to any such people thinking of calling me. Thank your stars that I cannot bite your head off remotely :-)