Has anyone EVER sent a "numeric page"? Since 1985? There is nothing that makes me quake with fury more than having someone's cell phone chatter on for an eternity beyond that person's indended outgoing message. I cannot think of one time, nor can anyone I know, where the computer voiced "post message" has had any utility whatsoever other than to chew up your time and sanity. "For! more! options! press 5!" ... what options? I just want to leave a message! like the good old days, when the thing just beeped and you started talking!

Now I need to listed to the computer tell me about all the idiotic things I can do other than just start talking. It's madness. A classic example of information overkill, the scourge of our times.

Some cellphone companies let you skip the whole thing by pressing "1", which, if standard, would be a godsend, but you never know what company you're dealing with and sometimes pressing "1" forces you to listen to the whole thing over again, or even hangs up with an insipid dismissal: "One! Is not a recognized option! Good Bye!" I quiver with helplessness knowing there is nothing whatsoever I can do but wait...wait....wait....

The only thing I can think of - this is all a conspiracy to burn more minutes. Who wants to start a class action lawsuit for the benefit of us all? At the very least, there ought to be a way to force your message to spare people the agony of listening to the robot... but alas, we must suffer.

(I wrote about this before, but having stumbled upon the Everyday Hogwash website, I decided to revisit this horrible issue in hopes of having it printed there)