We Can Only Connect
A man returned to his home and played back his telephone-answering machine to discover that his message to callers had not registered beyond his initial “Hello.” Transcribed, the tape of the exchange between machine and one caller ran as follows:
“Hello.” “Hello. Hello. . . hello!” (click.)
“Hello.” “Hello, hello. . . hello, hello!” (click.)
“Hello.” “Hello, hello. . . You see, operator, he says ‘Hello,’ but he won’t say anything else.”
“I’m sorry, sir. We can only connect you with your party. We cannot make him talk to you.”