Listening: Now That’s a Thought

Received a telephone call from a company doing a survey:

Me: Hi, this is Bob.

Caller: Is Bob there?

Me: Th…this is Bob. Good morning.

Caller: I’m doing a survey regarding children and television. Do you have any children or grandchildren under the age of 13?

Me: No, I have no children.

Caller: I see. Do you have any children or grandchildren under the age of 13?

Me: Um, well, I…I have no children, thus no grandchildren, and none of the children or grandchildren that…I don’t have are under the age of 13?

Caller: I see. I won’t bother you then. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.

Me: You, too. Bye-bye.

The moral of the story?

I don’t know. Okay, there are many lessons. While working from a basic script is fine, actually listening to someone after you ask a question is obviously very important.

What other lessons might we take away from this?

And, in case you are wondering, yes, I was very polite and no, I was not snarky. It’s not my style. Though, I must admit, I struggled just a teensy bit with that.