hullllooo

Dear Diary, I should have accepted the truth years ago. After all their was a history in my family. I remember my sisters killing their selves laughing as they mocked my mother answering the phone. “Hulllllloooooo”, she used to say. Then there was my father who would be yelling at one of them, but when the phone rang would put on the most composed voice and answer the phone very sweetly. Neither of them were quite themselves on the phone.

It was my daughter who first noticed. After I would get off the phone from taking an order with a customer she would sometimes say, “Are you mad at them?” . I’d say, “Of course not. They were lovely.” She would say, “Oh you sounded like you were mad at them.” I’d shake my head in bewilderment. Then I would think “She is only ten, she misinterpreted .” Oh remember the famous Margaret Lawrence quote, “You’re Young , you know things now you won’t know when you are older.”

Then my son started saying I was rude on the phone. I thought it was him.

Then sometimes a customer would call and say, “Is this a bad time?” when it was a perfectly good time.

It is my tone of voice. My big flavourful accent perhaps. It might be that I am always slightly distracted. It is my nature. The one thing I can tell you is that it isn’t the person on the other end of the line. It is me. I have a kinda cranky phone voice.

My email manners are not much better. I misspell. I hurry. I am brief. My sister in law can write me a letter and I can manage to answer in three words or less. She mocks me for it. It has nothing to do with her.

I chat on the phone sometimes and can be pleasant, don’t get me wrong. I can also write a good email but the thruth is I am ussually whizzing through these things.

If you have been the recipient of my whizzing, know it is me and not you.

You’re lovely for calling, for wanting to support my business, for ordering. Thank you.

I am working on better phone manners. At least I am taking it into consideration.

I think there will be typos in my emails for  a while yet. But if it is unreadable please write back for clarification.

I appreciate your support, and that you support my work.

Honestly, I do, even if you have called and I had my cranky phone voice on.

Forgive me. I am a bit contrary by times. The one thing I can promise it was me…not you!