A Hands Free Experience

Hands free devices are extremely useful. Without these fancy devices, we would be keeping our delicate ears pressed against the rapidly heating mobile phones. Imagine latching on to the phone while driving. This is indeed a foolproof way to get you pulled over by the cops. The other option is to switch on the speakerphone thereby making us less intelligible with the resulting atmospheric interference. Imagine ourselves on public transport vehicle and carrying on a conversation on the speakerphone. This can be either entertaining or terribly disappointing for the fellow passengers. For all the above reasons, I regard hands free devices as extremely useful. The same devices, which are useful, can also give rise to funny situations in real life.

A friend of mine uses the hands free device while attending calls. In his job, most of the operations are conducted using his mobile. So he has wisely invested in a hands free device. Instead of the fashionable wireless hands free devices, he has opted for the traditional wired one. So he plugs it into his ears and conducts business. The immediate after-effect of this action is the isolation. He is insulated from the outside world and hence he is isolated. Because of this, he doesn't realize when he is talking loudly to the phone. To complicate matters further, he is naturally loud. When the conversation becomes heated, he can be heard miles away. Do not think this as an exaggeration. Once he received a SMS from his wife when he was attending a call from home. His wife had gone to the third floor of the apartment complex for an errand and he could be heard from the first floor all the way up to the third floor, may be even higher than the third floor. So, hiis wife sent a SMS to keep the noise levels down!

While using hands free devices, my friend also gesticulates animatedly. As a result, you can see him pointing in the air and also pushing the index finger into vacuum to stress a point. This is fine as long you have a private office or even a covered cubicle. If you are in an open space, it is quite a show for all those who are sharing the open space with you. The situation is indeed weird for your family members if they are watching you working from home. With decibel levels rising as is the case with my friend, it is hard for his family members not to notice it. As a result, his job description is summarized by his daughter in the following words. "I know what my dad does. He puts on the earphones. And wave wildly in the air. This is what he does in the office!".

Tags: Musings,Office,Hands Free

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