Friday, April 23, 2010

Phone Conversation At Work Today

ME: Thank you for calling Barnes and Noble. This is Matthew. How can I help you?

GIRL (I'm guessing ten years old): Matthew? Are you single?

ME: Yes, I am. Are you asking me out?

GIRL: How old are you?

ME: I'm going to be forty-one tomorrow.

GIRL: Happy birthday.

ME: Thank you.

GIRL: Um . . . Do you wanna go to, like . . . Outback tomorrow?

ME: I'd love to, but unfortunately I have to work.

GIRL: You have to work on your birthday?

ME: Unfortunately, yes.

GIRL: When are you available?

ME: I don't actually know. (Laughing)

GIRL: Yeah, um . . . That laugh? It's not so good.

ME: Well, we all have our faults.

GIRL: Okay, well, I'll call you.

ME: Okay. Bye.

4 comments:

Elke said...

It occurs to me that you make us laugh regularly, but I don't remember hearing your laugh. What's it like?

Matthew Sanborn Smith said...

My laugh is loud, obnoxious and so over the top it seems sarcastic. It's the type of laugh you would expect from a character in a Saturday Night Live skit. I picked it up from a friend of mine whom I've known for many years. The girl was right, though most people don't call me on it.

Elke said...

Thanks for saving an outtake off the digital cutting room floor--that was fun. I'm not seeing what you mean yet, but this was more of a chuckle than a full volume laugh perhaps.

As for me, I am known to occasionally giggle like a girl, but that's not wholly inappropriate.

Matthew Sanborn Smith said...

I knew you'd pay attention to that laugh, Elke. And you're right, that's not the full-bore laugh.