And Why Are You In College??

Conversations like this make me wonder...

phone: ring, ring

me: "Z Department, this is Dr. X"

caller: "Ms./Mr. Y?"

me: "No, Dr. X"

*silence*

caller: "I need to speak with Ms./Mr. Y."

me: "DR. Y is in class."

*silence*

*more silence*

me: "Would you like to leave a message?"

caller: "Yeah, I'm not going to be able to come to class. I have a doctor's appointment."

me: "What is your name?"

caller: (gives name)

me: "And which class are you in?"

caller: (gives class)

me: "I'll leave Dr. Y the message."

caller: "OK"

*click*

Sometimes, I seriously hate sharing a phone line with another faculty member. Neither of us give an attendence grade but students are always calling Dr. Y to say they can't be in class for this or that. I tell my students to either email or mention it in class but that they don't need to report to me on where they were. The only exception is lab where there are in-class grades assigned. Also, it seems like it might be a good plan for the students' to know what information they plan to convey before calling. The silences were what killed me. I mean, they were fairly lengthy as far as 'I want to leave a message' silences go. And a 'thank you' would not have been out of line on the student's part either. Boy, I am soooo glad it is the end of the week. I'm really feeling very annoyed with silly people and it's not PMS-related.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!