I often answer the phone for my boss. Because he is dedicated to his clients, he is accessible. He gets calls all the time, and some of the clients don't want to mess with talking to me. The excuses they use are usually amusing, but some make it pretty clear they don't want to talk to a peon.
A smart-alec like me has to be careful not to offend callers, and so far I've held me tongue. But I was tempted today. A guy called and asked for the boss, who was out. I asked to take a message with my best helpful voice, and the guy says, "No, I'll just try him back another time – it's not important."
I wanted to tell him, "Listen, mo-ron, but the boss's time is valuable, and he doesn't accept unimportant phone calls. He fervently dislikes having his time wasted, and will not be impressed that you called here with nothing of value. In this situation, he expects me to deal with people like you, and frankly, I don't have much use for you, either." But you really can't say that, can you.
