ehowton ◾ ◾ Answering Machine

For years the average ape has attempted creative ways to let callers know what to do (and when) to leave a message on an answering machine.

Unfortunately for me, people aren't always as smart as they might appear. You see, I chose to forgo the entire preamble prior to the beep, and assumed that the caller would know what to do, and when. After all, no matter how creative or interesting most answering machine messages are, the majority conclude with the instruction, "Please leave a message after the beep." Who, in this day and age of technology doesn't know the importance of this timing? You don't leave a message before the beep - only afterwards. The beep is the key. In fact, I'd guess that all you reading this now, know just what to do. Furthermore, you're probably wondering why I'd even bring it up.

I'll tell you why. I'm willing to tell ya, I'm wanting to tell ya, I'm waiting to tell ya! Beacause for several years, I never had one person leave a message on my answering machine. Not friends, not family, not telemarkers. No one. When pressed as to why, they always exclaimed, "I was waiting for the message."

I had an answering machine which I set to simply, "Beep."