Jazz music plays. It's from the 90s - all saxophones and soft synths. Every now and then a voice interrupts the mellifluous riffs.
"We apologise for the delay, and thank you for your patience. Please continue to hold."
We're eighteen minutes in. I'm sure I'll eventually get to talk to a real person, but it's nice to have this musical interlude. The musicians must be getting really tired by now - they've been playing the same 32 bars in a loop for quite a while.
What did we do before call centres? If you needed to telephone your bank or your insurance people, were you just put through to a person at a smoky desk by a window? How did that work, given the 'volume of calls'? And did they send someone round with a hat and a suitcase?
I feel as though I would have quite liked those days - seeing the 'Man from the Pru' and giving him a cheery wave on the street, popping into the branch and finding out how Doris got on with her cake sale, and then chatting about my account. Although actually, maybe I'd be out back practising with the lads, getting ready for the call centre age.
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