One Call Ends, Another Door Opens

(The doorbell at my work is connected to the phones, so the intercom basically calls our central phone line from an extension and we can open the door with a short code. We have two buildings, so it is quite common for us to buzz in coworkers from the other building. I witnessed my colleague’s part of this conversation and he told me the rest later. The phone rings and my colleague answers.)

Caller: “Hi, it’s [Caller]. Can you let me in, please?”

Colleague: “Sure.”

(Before he can hit the buttons to open the door, two things occur to him: first, there is no one by the caller’s name working here, and second, this is an external call. A second later, he makes the connection between the name, the voice, and a customer he had talked to a bit earlier.)

Colleague: “Ms. [Caller]? Is that you?”

Caller: “Yes, of course, it’s me!”

Colleague: “Um, Ms. [Caller], this is [Colleague]. You called me.”

Caller: “[Colleague]? How the heck did I call you? I rang my office’s doorbell!”

Colleague: “Okay, that’s weird. Er, well, nice talking to you, but I guess I’ll hang up now?”

Caller: “Right. I’ll try that again, and — no offense — I hope I don’t end up with you again.”

(She didn’t end up with him again and wasn’t left standing in front of their door. I’m just sad my colleague didn’t test if he could have opened that door from 100 km away.)