Name Please

Written by Tracy

by John Fischer (used by permission) www.purposedrivenlife.com

Name Please [ 3:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’m sure we’ve all had words with automated telephone answering systems. Lately I’ve realized I don’t even have to dial a number to get lost in the maze; I’ve got a labyrinth built right into my cell phone itself.

I have voice activated dialing on my phone and it’s fairly effective, 80% of the time. This little convenience is very handy especially while driving. I just press a button and wait for a female computer chip to say: “Name please…” I reply with someone’s name and the phone matches my voice up with my preprogrammed recording of the same, and dials the number for me. To verify the right selection, the lady will say, “Calling…” and play back the name of the person it heard me say. If it responds with the wrong person, I have a few seconds to correct it. If the phone isn’t quite sure what name I called, it will respond with: “Did you say…?” and then play back its best guess.

Recently I had a conversation with my cell phone in a coffee shop that went something like this:

“Name please…”

“Bill,” I say.

“Calling…” and then I hear my pre-recorded voice say: “CAROLYN.” How on earth did it get Carolyn out of Bill?

“No,” I correct it, and then I repeat: “Bill.”

“Name please…” comes the response. This is what happens when the phone isn’t sure what to do. It goes back to the beginning.

“Bill,” I say for the third time, enunciating slowly and carefully, trying to help the “lady” along.

“Did you say… ‘BILL?’” Ah… brilliant!

“Yes!” I say and I can’t help facetiously exaggerating my congratulations to the phone. Of course the phone picks up my voice as a correction, doesn’t know what to do, and comes back with:

“Name please…”

I reflect on the fact that I probably deserve this for my little outburst. So I decide to try this one more time before I give up and just dial the dumb number.

“Bill,” I repeat, trying to remain calm, but the frustration is mounting in my voice. People in the coffee shop are starting to look my way.

“Did you say… ‘MARTI’S CELL PHONE?’”

“No! I said ‘Bill!!’” I have now totally lost it.

“Name please….”

So what exactly is this podcast about this morning? Well, besides a laugh that I hope you are having over what I’m sure has been a similar experience of yours, it’s this: Isn’t it good we have a heavenly Father who made us in His image and knows our voice? Isn’t it good that we are more than chemicals, or accidents in the cosmos, or chips in a computer? And isn’t it amazing that someone out there is big enough to hear us when we call, and can give us all His personal attention, all at the same time?

And He always gets it right.

John Fischer is an author, speaker and song writer. For more of his writing,
visit www.purposedrivenlife.com