First Phone Call of The Day at Work.

Me - Thank you for calling, this is Adam, what can I do for you?
Old Lady - I want tickets to Sunday August 6th.
Me - Would that be for Trey McIntyre or Armitage Gone?
Old Lady - You tell me, which one is better?
Me - Well, it's not that either is better than the other, they are different from each other. Trey McIntyre would probably be described as a mix between ballet and modern dance, he uses contemporary music and is usually really fun to watc-
Old Lady - And what about that other one?
Me - Armitage Gone? Carole Armitage is the choreographer for this company. In the 80's, when she was still dancing, she was called the "Punk Rock Ballerina," so you'll definitely see some of that influence there. In the 90's, she spent a lot of time in Europe choreographing for musical theatre and opera. Her company, which was founded in NY in about 2003, -
Old Lady - You know, Adam. I like Ballet and all, but I just want to know about the companies.
Me - I'm telling you.
Old Lady - I just want to know what is going to be fun to watch, Adam.

Pause.

Me - Well. I guess Trey McIntyre is the safer choice. And generally a fun -
Old Lady - Fine, I want that. What time is the performance?
Me - 2 PM, in the Ted Shaw-
Old Lady - And, Adam, would it be possible to get an aisle seat? One?
Me - I have aisle seats in the 4th row ce-
Old Lady - No. I hate the fourth row, that's too close, I need it further back.
Me - The other option I was going to give would be the 12th row, center orchestra.
Old Lady - I want that.
Me - Are these tickets for anyone who is a student, child, or -
Old Lady (overlapping and interrupting) - No. What about seniors?

Pause.

Old Lady - What?
Me - I asked, are these tickets for anyone who is a student, child, or senior?
Old Lady - There's a discount?
Me - Yes, for anyone 65 or older.
Old Lady - And can I have confirmation number?
Me - I'm sorry, I'm not quite to that part, yet.
Old Lady - Oh. Ok.
Me - So this will be for tw-
Old Lady - Will you mail these tickets or keep them there? What's better?
Me - We usually suggest to hold them in case-
Old Lady - Hold them? Even though the performance is in August?
Me - We suggest that in case you need to change them, or donate them. But we can certainly mail them to you.
Old Lady - You know, last year I had this problem with a performance being cancelled and it seems that everything always has glitch in it sometimes.

Pause to reflect on that last sentence.

Me - Right, I see, the Friday night performance was cancelled, and you went to the Saturday afternoon performance.
Old Lady - Yes, it was awful.

Pause. She didn't have tickets to the cancelled performance, in case you didn't notice.

Me - Well, sometimes, these things happen, that was an act of horrible weather and completely out of our control. Kind of a strange and random occurrence, but anyway are we mailing these tickets or holding them?
Old Lady - Mail them to me. And when will I receive them?
Me - We'll probably mail them next Friday, so you can expect within two to three weeks.
Old Lady - Ok, that's fine.
Me - The total is going to be $85, do you have your credit card ready?
Old Lady - Yes. It'll be a Visa ####, - Wait, what are the seats? You gave me the row number, but not the seat number.
Me - The seats are going to be row M as in Monkey, seats 114 and 115.
Old Lady - Wait, hold on. I'm writing this down. 114 and 115, row F?
Me - The row is M as in Monkey.
Old Lady - Oh. Ok. The card, it's a visa #### #### #### #### expiration, ####. Do you want to-
Me - Do you have the verification code, please?
Old Lady - The what?
Me - The numbers on the back of you card, where you sign your name?
Old Lady - I've never been asked that before. I just bought tickets at Tanglewood, and they didn't ask me for that.
Me - This is something we've been asking for for the past couple of years, it helps in protecting you against credit card fraud and shows us that you have the card in your hand.
Old Lady - Where is it?
Me - On the back of your card, where you sign your name? It should read the last four digits of your credit card number, and then three extra.
Old Lady - It's so hard to read.. ###?
Me - Yes, that's right. I'm processing the number right now, it will take me a moment.

Pause.

Me - Great, you're all set, and, again, we'll mail the tickets probably on next Friday, so you'll get them in 2 to 3 weeks.
Old Lady - Wait, you said you'd mail them in 4 to 5 weeks?
Me - I said we'd probably get them in the mail next Friday and you'd get them in 2 to 3 weeks.
Old Lady - If you're mailing them next Friday then why are you saying I'll get them in 2 to 3 weeks?
Me - It's an estimation, you may get them sooner, but we say 2 to 3 weeks to give us some flexibility in case the mail is-
Old Lady - Ok, that's fine.
Me - You're all set, then.
Old Lady - Great. Thank you, have a good day
Me - Have a good day.

We both hang up.