Does this bother you? or would you consider it bad manners?

Yeah, Ijust hang up.

This is tacky and in poor taste

It's best for the person to make their own calls, but the assistant should at the very least, tell you who it is and what it is regarding. That way you can decide if it is worth your time to wait.

It depends on who was calling. If it was my Dad, I would think it was a bit weird he hadn't just phoned me himself (I don't think my Dad has ever phoned me, but he's the only close relative I have with access to support staff). If it were the Prime Minister (who has also never phoned me, in case you wondered) then I wouldn't even think it was odd.

> Yeah, Ijust hang up.

I'm assuming it would depend on the circumstances though?

"This is the White House. Please hold for a call from President Obama."

*Matty hangs up*

I may reconsider a call like that

I really liked the story about the Congresswoman who refused to take Obama's call because she thought it was a radio station trying to trick her. Though he was only President-elect then

Nah, as long as it's coming off their telephone bill.

Palin got tricked my a radio station a few months ago...

I can't say she was totally off the wall. In fact, I'd suggest a prank call is more likely than a call from Obama.

Was that the one where they pretended to be Sarkozy? I read about it, but thought it would make me cringe too much to actually look it up. I should probably do that now that there's no risk of her becoming President (surely she won't be a front-runner next time?)

True And it does make a great after-dinner story.

No, it doesn't bother me.

Yeah, I think it was a couple Canadian radio show hosts pulling the prank, pretending to be Sarkozy. There's an audio clip of it online, that's how I heard it, months ago.

Palin was fairly popular and there was some sign that she might be back. It's hard to say, though. Though Obama has a lot of support, times are tough. From my perspective, there are things worse than Palin... Romney, for example.

What did you think of her? I feel I got a good idea of the more superficial things about her, as the soundbites and jokes were played a lot here, but I never got to see anything that made her look like more than a joke. It's a shame as I was initially impressed to see a woman nominated.

Yes, and I typically hang up. No one is special enough to call me to put me on hold. It's rude.

However, if it's an automated system doing it for a telemarketer, I do stay on sometimes to give them a really, really hard time.

ohmyword *sitting on hands*

My husband works in the same building as Palin.

*sitting on hands*

She gives me the creeps, personally. Just the way she talks seems so contrived and "folksy". It seems either phony or just too different from my own point of view. But, that's just my reaction and thus barely matters at all. I have lots of liberal friends who think she's completely horrible, but they all hated Bush too and he got elected twice. So, I try to understand the other side of things.

I think she's appealing because she seems to represent a pure form of American conservative values. It's similar to Bush, really, though since she has little poltical history, and thus no baggage, she is currently more appealing. She's like Reagan, basically. Reagan was and still is very popular. It's not actually important if she sounds smart (Bush rarely did and she seemed like an idiot a few times). Conservative don't care about intelligence. They seem to like someone who is just a regular person. She talks about less taxes, less government (both appealing, even to me) but also social conservative: Christian, anti-gay-rights, anti-immigration, anti-abortion (stuff I don't like). The promises of less government never happen. Less taxes sort of do, but it generally just causes budget deficits because they end up spending more anyway.

Palin's state (Alaska) is in trouble now that the price of oil dropped back down. That may kill Palin's chances of a come-back. She's fairly good-looking too. That may be a factor. I think Obama's looks helped him. Have you seen his abs?!

> What did you think of her? I feel I got a good
> idea of the more superficial things about her,
> as the soundbites and jokes were played a lot
> here, but I never got to see anything that made
> her look like more than a joke. It's a shame as
> I was initially impressed to see a woman nominated.

I used to watch the debates and follow CNN fairly regularly before the elections. It might be just me, but there isn't anything that came out of her mouth that I didn't disagree with. I am not going to say that it's far that she was subject to so much ridicule, but she was giving out enough material for it be easily doable.

I don't think this has ever happened to me. I don't think it would bother me, unless there was something else inherently bothersome about the call. Then it would just be fuel to the fire. Every so often my SO calls me and then tells me to hang on as soon as I answer. Usually it's because he just misjudged how soon I would pick up and is in the middle of something at work. It's silly, but it mostly doesn't bother me.

?
Depends. Is it President Obama wanting an appointment with me? Than it wouldn't bother me. If it was a friend who wanted to chat with me, it wouldn't bother me. If it was a sales call it would bother me immensely.

That's pretty much what I think too. I wanted to be sympathetic and say that a lot of the ridicule was sexist, but I don't think that it was.

I noticed the trend for conservatives to warm to "non-political" candidates during the Bush-Gore election. My favourite clip of the whole election was an American proudly stating that he would be voting for Bush because he "wasn't a politician". I can see the appeal, as I think a lot of great politicians here have come to it the hard way, by slogging their way up through trade unions or spending years as city councillors in addition to their full-time jobs. Compare that to the high-gloss spin-central politicians like Blair and a bit of common-sense down-to-earth normality is bound to draw some people. But people like Palin or Bush take it so far as to make it spin in its own right - they portray the image of being the common man (or woman) because it suits them politically and that seems more dishonest than traditional spin.

I think Obama's looks helped him. Have you seen his abs?!

Yeah, yeah, you Americans and your handsome new leader... I think we've beaten you on that front:

[full]

Type woman, type! Then, when they come to take you away for questioning, tell them it was your husband or one of your kids. Think of the peace and quiet

Well, I didn't really percieve it as sexist. I mean, she is quite good looking (at least I thought so), and there isn't many good looking women in politics, so that made her an easy target. However, I found some criticism/ridicule of her to be completely absurd. At one point, on CNN, they were comparing her and Hillary, and kept commenting how Palin wore skirts and Hillary wore pants, which, in my opionion, is completely stupid and redundant.

It is noticeable that a lot of column inches are devoted to what female candidates wear... How often is there a detailed critique of a male candidate's choice of tie (unless it has naked woman on it...)? What are you up to lately, anyway?

Give Obama a few years, he may look similar. Presidents age quickly while in office, it seems.

Yes, it did bother me when I used to have a phone. I would just hang up when that happened.

That doesn't make sense. Why couldn't the person call me when they were ready to?

I don't think I would hang up because I don't know anyone with a secretary and I would be curious to see what it was.

I'd probably hang up. I probably don't want to talk to anyone with a secretary anyway.

No. The person has many things to do, just trying to use his/her time efficiently.

I have hung up or gone into a mini-tirade when the person has answered

Well, I moved to Montreal (where Irene is), about five months ago. I'm learning French right now. It's kind of impossible to get any kind of decent job here without it. I don't know how I'm planning on staying here, though, but knowledge of French is going to help me anywhere in Canada.

What have you been up to?

Bill collector computers do that, tell you to hold if they get a live person to answer. I hang up.

Did you study French in school? I did about years and have been completely hopeless every time I've attempted to speak it since (which has fortunately been rare). Are you working, or still studying?

I'm still plodding my way through a medical degree. I'm coming up on the end of my second year now (exams in May) with another three years to go after that. But I'll be hospital- rather than lecture- based from this summer so it should be pretty exciting

Its never happened but I think I probably be annoyed

Studying French in school is mandatory in Ontario until grade 9, but I took it all the way through grade 11 (16 yrs old). Since then, I've been to France once, and they barely gave me a chance to use the little French I amassed because they kept speaking to me in English. The language as a concept was not unfamiliar to me, even though I forgot most of it, a lot of the grammatical stuff and vocab needed for basic conversation was just a review for me. I am in school right now, I'm at McGill university taking a programme called Special Intensive French. There are five levels, and I'm level two. It doesn't sound that high, but the university has another programme called Special Intensive English, and I've spoken to people who are in level three, and they can communicate pretty well in English, so I hope I can soon start using French in every day life.

Are you planning on specializing within any field in medicine?

It better be important.

I think I'd be tempted to wait for the dickhead to get on the phone and then ask him to please hold also.

> What did you think of her?
> I feel I got a good idea of
> the more superficial things
> about her, as the soundbites
> and jokes were played a lot
> here, but I never got to see
> anything that made her look
> like more than a joke. It's
> a shame as I was initially
> impressed to see a woman nominated.

I think your impression of her was accurate. I saw nothing in the media here that reflected on her in a positive way... and I suspect that it's because she was what they said she was: a joke.

Yes, this would bother me. It is as if the person is saying that they are so important that you should have to wait for them when it is them who called you in the first place.

The whole "I'm just a hockey mom" spiel got to me.

Oh yeah, me too.

Are you getting many opportunities to speak French in public (I'm sorry, I'm not very familiar with which areas of Canada are primarily French-speaking)? I think I would have got a lot more from my French lessons if I'd ever had the chance to actually use it, but I've never been to France. I have had a few halting conversations with French-speaking patients (both from French-speaking Africa - one was an asylum seeker and the other's daughter had moved to the UK but the mum spoke no English at all) which have made me wish I'd taken French further than I did (though I think they both appreciated the fact that I was trying, even if I couldn't do much more than ask if they wanted a drink, or *attempt* to translate the menu for them! Me: "Um, um....poisson!!! Poisson a....uh...en.....uh.....avec....er....sauce....er....sauce de milk....de milk et fromage...um...vous voudrais? Um..." Hopeless!!!)

I haven't really seen enough of the different areas of medicine to choose one yet. I'm fairly certain I want to do hospital medicine rather than general practice (although that's where 50% of all doctors end up) and that I don't want to be a surgeon, but beyond that, I'm fairly open to different possibilites. Oncology (cancer), neurology (brains) and geriatrics (elderly) are all very appealing, but there's so much I haven't seen yet!

Quebec is almost entirely French speaking, except for few parts, largest of them being the island of Montreal (which is roughly half French, half English). I live in the downtown, in an area where I can get away with solely speaking English. Which really sucks, because majority of people, the second they sense you're not good in French, switch immidiately to English. I've told myself million times that the second they do that I should act dumb and pretend I don't speak English, but I've yet to do it. It's not easy, because I rely on English words when I don't know the French ones.

I try and speak French with my boyfriend, who went to a French high school, and I like to read books in French (mostly kids' books - like Petit Nicolas - which despite being for kids is very interesting). Other than that, I think Montreal is a wrong place to learn French (if you speak English already). Or English for that matter.

I think Neurology would be something I would interested in if I had decided to persue Medicine. But that's just a guess since I don't know very my about the subject. My mum's a Pediatrian and she loves it, and I think it would be cool working with kids (if you like them).

No, just hang up.

I could imagine you'd be someone else who would be drawn to a lot of the specialisms that I would hate - emergency/trauma medicine, high-powered surgery, obstetrics etc. I want to aim for the specialties that don't involve too much adrenaline/epinephrine flying around (inside me, or being injected into patients by me)! A lot of my friends get really excited by that stuff, but I think I would fall to pieces under that kind of fast-paced pressure (occasionally is fine, but I hate living under a cloud of potential resuscitation attempts, etc. all the time).

When I first decided to go for medicine, paediatrics was *all* that I wanted to do - but then I went and worked in an adult hospital and that really opened my eyes. I haven't really considered paediatrics since - probablybecause my course has been very adult-focused so far - but I am looking forward to placements. I love spending time with kids, but I do wonder how much more difficult it would be to tell the parent of a three year old that their child is terminally ill than it would be to tell an adult that they were going to die.

Somewhat. Right off it puts me at a disadvantage. It seems the caller is more important or his time is, than me or mine. I think it's rude, but I do understand why it happens. I don't do this. I have more respect for people who call directly.