Mr Speakerphone departs tomorrow. Part of the big re-org that’s happening has meant the company no longer require his services. As you might recall, his services (at least as far as I can see) involve mostly leaving his office door open while he shouts into a speakerphone.
This has been curtailed recently. Since he’s known his days are numbered, he’s been coming in about only every second day, and when he does come in, it’s usually late in the morning and he’s gone by mid-afternoon. The time that he’s here, of course, is mostly spent on the phone. He’s been networking – chasing jobs and setting up lunches and talking about the golf he’s been playing on the days he’s not here.
It’s interesting to hear how many of his calls go to voicemail. Why is it the people who make loud speakerphone calls usually end up on voicemail? Is it because they are inherently more irritating, and the callees are more likely to divert them when they see who it is?
Some of his colleagues have already left, but he’s held on a bit longer. Already the vultures are swooping round to claim his corner office when he’s gone.
Alas, his departure will still leave the Loud Guys Across The Partitions. There’s about three of them, and they have this annoying habit of telling jokes most of the day. I don’t know if the jokes are funny or not, because can’t hear them, but the loud guffaws carry right across the office, so I assume they must be utterly smegging hilarious. So I won’t be retiring my headphones just yet.
