Call Me By Your Name… Or Hers…

I run the front desk at a busy staffing service. We happen to have two women in the office who have the same name. I answer the phone today and have this conversation:

Me: “Good morning, [Staffing Service]. How can I help you?”

Guy: “I need to speak to [Employee’s First Name].”

Me: “I’m sorry, we have two [Employee’s First Name]s. Which one are you looking for?”

Guy: “[Employee’s Full Name].”

Me: “She’s actually in a meeting right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

Guy: *Clearly annoyed* “I just spoke to a [Employee] and she fumbled with her phone and hung up!”

The other [Employee] had answered a call a few seconds before and no one had been on the other line.

Me: “That was the other [Employee]. The one you are looking for is in a meeting. What can I help you with?”

Guy: “Well, if it’s going to be that much of a problem, I’m just going to go!”

Me: “I’m trying to help you—”

The guy hung up. I took the number off the caller ID and warned [Employee] when she got out of a meeting not to offer the guy a job if he called back.