The document describes a confusing conversation between two people trying to exchange contact information so one can send the other a contract. They have issues remembering their email addresses, fax numbers, and other contact details. They propose complicated multi-step plans involving voicemails, pagers, and faxes to exchange this information, realizing simpler options like meeting in person would be better. The conclusion comments that while technology allows more efficient communication, it can also lead to more convoluted interactions as people try to save time.
4. -... So it’s finished? You’ll send it to me by e-mail?
- My e-mail address? Frankly, I don’t remember it !!!
5. - Just a minute, let me check.
-NICOOOLE, ...
WHAT’S MY E-MAIL ADDRESS?
6. - No, no, that’s my home e-mail address!
- Listen, I can’t find it.
Let me check and call you back.
7. - Oh!... You’re going for lunch...
OK, I’ll send you the address by fax.
You’ll have it when you get back. OK?
8. OK. So give me your fax number.
- What! You don’t know it?
9. - OK, here’s what we’ll do.
You e-mail me your fax number and I’ll fax you
my e-mail address.
- No, that won’t work.
Wait, I’m getting mixed up...
Let me think...
11. - What’s your cell-phone number?
- Oh, your battery is dead ... Mine too...
12. - OK, listen, here’s what we’ll do...
- You charge your cell-phone battery, I’ll call you in a couple of
hours and leave you my e-mail address in your voice mail.
13. - Then you take my e-mail address in your voice mail and you
e-mail me your fax number.
-Then I can fax you my e-mail address.
14. - That’s plan A. Now for plan B!
I send myself an e-mail to see what my e-mail address is
and then I record a message for you in my voice mail....
15. …when you get it, you send me the answer on my pager...
…so then, I send you a fax with my e-mail address.
16. - Complicated?
No, it’s not at all complicated.
-We just need a bit of coordination... and luck...
17. -There’s also a third possibility that’s much simpler: plan C...
You send me the contract directly by express messenger.
-Yeah!... It’s the best plan strategically speaking...
18. - But actually, I have a small question...
…what was I supposed to send you by e-mail?
My e-mail address, my fax number, my cell number,
pager, telephone?
19. - Oh! You don’t remember either.
- It would probably be a good idea to have periodic
bilateral coordination meetings concerning protocols
for internal communications.
20. - But anyway, since your office is at the other end of the corridor,
I’ll come by to pick it up in 2 minutes... OK? Bye!
21. And the moral…:
Thanks to technology, we can now
waste time with an efficiency until
now unimaginable, all in the name of
saving time…