Sarah continues on after scolding, “They’re no good!”
I can’t tell who called or where they called from!
Hiromi doesn’t understand exactly what Sarah means.
You have to ask the caller’s full name, company name and telephone number when you take messages. For instance you wrote “Bob” and a telephone number on this memo but I can’t make out which Bob he is because I know many Bobs. I can’t even tell if he is one of our customers.
It all sounds obvious to Hiromi now that she’s being told, but she just didn’t know before. She thought they were Sarah’s acquaintances since they hadn’t mentioned a company name or a last name. Hiromi speaks to Sarah before she can walk away with the memos in a bad mood.
I’m sorry, that was my mistake. I will ask for company names and full names. Please let me do it.
Looking into Hiromi’s eyes, Sarah nods and hands back the memos. She says:
All right, I will allow you to do it. Please do it very quickly. It would be rude if I returned the calls late.
Hiromi skips lunch and calls each person, one by one. Fortunately, all of those whom she can reach give her the information kindly. Some people are away but whoever answers the call helps Hiromi without giving her trouble. Unfortunately, the one person she can’t reach is Bob. When she dials all she hears is a recording.
The number you have dialled is not in service.
The same recording is heard no matter how many times she tries. For about ten minutes Hiromi tries not to cry as she thinks about what to do. All of the sudden a thought comes to her and she dials the last 2 digits backwards. She remembers jotting down the last 2 digits of her friend’s number backwards before. She dials, thinking she has nothing to lose, and Bob’s voice answers on the other end.
She gathers the memos together very quickly, and takes them to Sarah. Sarah isn’t in a bad mood anymore. She smiles and receives the memos from Hiromi.
Thank you. Actually, taking telephone messages is not easy. Everybody makes similar mistakes.
With this incident behind her, Hiromi is sure to remember the correct way to take messages. (To be continued)