I live in Berlin, Germany and asked a friend in the U.S. per email
to call American Online in the States and have them send their
AOL install diskettes to me at my Berlin address. My friend called
AOL, then sent me this message:
I called AOL for you but had "an experience" talking
to the minimum-wage employee who attempted to take your address.
I pronounced your name for her and then spelled it (SLOWLY). I
gave her the street address and spelled it. Faithfully following
her script, she then asked for the State (as in which US state).
I replied, "actually it is in Berlin, Germany" and gave
her the postal code. I didn't think it necessary to spell Berlin,
Germany. My mistake. After a silence she said, "That's G-R?"
I then spelled Germany for her. She said, "No, I mean the
abbreviation." I said, "Are you trying to abbreviate
Germany in the 'State field' on your computer screen?" "Yes,"
she replied. I told her again that it was not at United States
address, that GR sounded like a good abbreviation but it was not
a US state and that she might have to spell out Germany on another
line. She replied, "I know it's not in the US, it's in Canada."
If there were any doubt I was in trouble, it was now certain.
I clarified that Berlin was a city in the country of Germany and
that neither were anywhere near Canada. Silence ... Me: "You
know, the country in Europe ... Hitler and all that Nazi stuff
from the 1940's ..."
Silence ...
Her: "So the city is B-U-N-L-E-R?" Me: "No, it's
Berlin ... Berlin, Germany ... B-E-R-L-I-N" Her: "OK,
but what's the state?"
AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh! Lucy just
pulled the football out from under me again.
Again I told her that there wasn't a US state involved. I know
there is a German equivalent of a state that Berlin is in but
I couldn't remember the name, nor its abbreviation, nor did I
think giving it to her if I had it would do any good.
I'm not done yet ...
Then she asks me for a phone number. Not having yours readily
available to her, I replied, "I'm calling you locally from
the States and I don't have a phone number in Berlin to give you."
A brief pause. . .
Her: "So, what was your phone number again?"
AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh! I gave
her my phone number because I knew, like a computer program with
no escapes from an endless loop, if she didn't fill in the phone
number line, I'd never get off the phone and you'd never get AOL.
Imagine if I had given her your phone number with all those numbers
and no familiar (xxx) xxx-xxxx format. My god, what would she
have done then???
She ended the call by reading the "namestring" script,
"Thank you ... Mr. 'tan-GAY' ... for ordering America On-Line.
Your order will arrive within 2 weeks. Have a nice day."