Captcha’d Too Late

(I work as a PCI compliance consultant-in-training. Essentially all I do is make phone calls to businesses; if anyone is interested in becoming PCI compliant, I have to transfer them to a more experienced coworker. Most of the calls I make typically end up being wrong or disconnected numbers, but in one case, this one happens when I make a call and reach a gatekeeper, or the person in charge of accepting phone calls for a business.)

Me: “Hi, this is [My Name] from [Company]. How are you doing today?”

Gatekeeper: “Are you a robot?”

Me: “What? No.”

Gatekeeper: “Are you sure? You sound like a robot.”

Me: “I assure you, I am not a robot.”

Gatekeeper: “How do I know you’re not one?”

(I pause for a moment to think.)

Me: “Okay, ask me something that only a human would know.”

Gatekeeper: “Okay, okay, you win.”

(The call continues, and it becomes obvious that they were just bored and joking, and they explain that their company tends to do that whenever someone they think is a telemarketer calls. I end up leaving a call back number, and we both hang up. A few minutes pass. My coworkers and I are sharing a laugh about it, when suddenly I remember something.)

Me: “Oh, no!”

Coworker: “What?”

Me: “I should have told them that I could read Captchas, instead!”

(We all agreed that, indeed, that would have been funnier.)