I thought it was funny...

Well Brendan didn't see the humor in this that I did, but I thought it was pretty funny, so I will share.

Today at work I had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Clayton. Yes, like the movie. No, I'm changing his name to protect his...pride. That's really his name. I feel like it makes the story all the funnier.

Anyway, stories of Micheal Clayton's peculiar phone etiquette have been circulating through our department for a few days now. You see, Michael Clayton is our colleague. He works in our same building, eats lunch in our same break room, and frequents the same water cooler. Yes, he works in a different department (Customer Service, but still...). He should understand certain things. Namely, who he is talking to on the phone.

But it seems that poor Michael Clayton is having a bit of trouble with this. Today, my phone rang. Seeing that it was an internal, I picked up saying, "This is Lauren." Did I mention that M.C. called ME? Right. So here I am on the phone with this guy answering a question he has about an author who wants to resubmit their files.

All is well. But then something changes. "So the author doesn't have to pay for resubmission," I say, answering his question. It's like something clicked with him. "That's right, ma'am, you can submit your files completely free of charge, and the best part is, you can still accrue royalties for the work that is in print." What? "Um...ok...." I say, feeling a huge giggle bubbling up inside my chest. It's happening. What three of my co-workers have described through confused laughter. Micheal Clayton has a habit of suddenly getting very confused, thinking he is speaking with an author rather than an Account Manager, going so far as logging call as author conversations. "Alright, ma'am is there anything else I can help you with today?"

"No," I reply softly, trying not to let my giggle burst into the phone. "Well thank you for calling BookSurge and have a great day."

I couldn't say anything with out laughing at him, so I just hung up the phone. No one even had to ask what happened. "Michael Clayton?" one of my co-workers asked. I nodded and laughed. Whew. That just really tickled my funny bone.