April 25, 2005
Busy
With all the changes and occasional improvements of telephones, one thing that hasn’t changed much is busy signals. I don’t know how anybody came up with that pulsating buzz, but there’s not much possibility of mistaking its universal (and often annoying) sound.
I suppose most phones, like mine, have (for the lazier among us) redial buttons for calling the same number over and over when necessary. That, coupled with some good horse sense to know when a line’s busy, should be enough comfort even when you’re running out of patience. But apparently not so.
Ma Bell’s progeny have found another way, for a price, of course. Just in case you’re absolutely either stupid or maybe from Mars (ET knew better) and making your first Earth-side phone call, it’s called, “This line is busy.” After that admonishment, the computer’s schoolmarmish voice goes on to tell you that for a charge of 90¢ “we” will keep trying for 30 minutes, ring you back with a special ring when its available, and then automatically connect you.
Of course, I suppose there’s some solace in and no charge for knowing that a wrong number is never busy.