Nineteen-Twenty-Eight
Shona finished her call, pushed her microphone up (so it more closely resembled an aerial) and nestled one of her headphones behind her ear so she could converse easier.
“Did you say we were expecting a new starter today?”
Her colleague Teri nodded as she herself finished up a call. “...thank you for calling Unknown Product Solutions. Please…” The sound of a muted dial tone indicated that the caller wasn’t particularly interested to hear Teri’s polite request, “...don’t bother to call back until you learn some manners.”
It’s not very easy to slam the phone down in frustration when you use a headset - all you can do is jab the ‘End Call’ button a bit harder than usual. Teri jabbed her ‘End Call’ button a lot, so much so that it just read ‘En_ ___l’ now.
“Grrr, stupid customers!” she growled, as she all but ripped her headset off and threw it onto the desk. “So rude!”
“You know how we often talk about getting you away from customer facing roles?” Shona teased, “Maybe it’s time to step that plan up a gear…”
Truth was, Teri was an excellent service operative, despite being a fairly young 21 years old. She was great with customers on the phone, but struggled to contain her frustration when the receiver hit the base unit. When she had job searched initially, she actively avoided any role that opened with ‘Complaints Handling’ - she wasn’t shy about the fact that she didn’t want to do that. But then her Dad had insisted on charging rent, making her pay her way, blah blah blah, and Shona had suggested they work together for a bit. The calls were rough at times, but they made up for it when the phones were quiet.
“What time is this guy coming in?” Shona asked.
“Thirteen-thirty,” Teri confirmed looking at her watch. In about 50-odd minutes it seemed.
Shona shook her head and let out a chuckle, “You and your 24hr clock times!” She was still laughing as the phone started ringing again. Before she answered, she added, “You’re like some sort of military commander!”
Teri smiled to herself, put her wireless headset back on and took both their mugs to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. She could answer on route if needed and most calls didn’t really need a computer resource to resolve.
No calls came in over the 3 minutes she was gone and when she came back, Shona was just finishing up her call too. Repeating the previous action with her headset, Shona pushed for more information about their new charge. “What’s this chap’s name again?” she asked.
“Eric, um, something or another.” Teri replied, almost a little too noncommittally.
“Ooh,” Shona wasn’t able to avoid scrunching up her face as she spoke, “that’s a bit old fashioned.”
Teri dug out a CV from the sheaf of papers HR had left her and groaned. She was by no means senior in the company, but they left her with a lot of responsibility. There was only the two of them on the afternoon shift and she was going to be tied with induction and training through most of the shift.
“Looking at how far back his experience goes,” she turned the few pages as she spoke, “he’s probably around mid-late fifties?”
“Is he going to be able to support the workload?” Shona had a worried tone.
“I’d say so,” Teri was genuinely enthusiastic with her response, “he’s worked a lot of the last 10 years in support roles and cites ‘regular telephone usage’ in most descriptions from the last 26 years too.”
“Hmm,” Shona seemed brighter suddenly, “might be alright then.”
“Might be alright then,” Teri nodded her agreement as she echoed her colleague’s reassured tone..
At half past one in the afternoon, the buzzer rang for the door and Teri went to let Eric into the office, throwing a nervous “Here goes!” at Shona as she got up.
Shona was back on a call again when she heard Teri’s voice out in the corridor, “...and I’ll introduce you to Shona first, as you’ll be working with her too on the late shift.”
As her call was still going, Shona had the opportunity to study their new colleague before talking to him. She waved and smiled at them both whilst she carried on her support call. He was kind of tall and slim, like he’d worked hard throughout his lifetime. He carried himself well with an almost military posture; back straight and chin elevated.
Eric nodded a greeting at Shona, although he didn’t smile - based on his current facial expression, Shona wondered if he ever showed emotion. He was literally unreadable. As her call wrapped up and Teri went to gather the induction forms, Shona got up and walked round to properly introduce herself.
“Good to meet you, Eric,” she said with genuine warmth and shook his hand, “I’m Shona.” His handshake was spot on, almost like he was well practised - not too firm, but not weak or limp at all.
“Likewise, Shona.” He let go of her hand at what felt like the exact amount of time. His voice was pure Northern velvet, like he belonged on stage as a Thespian or doing a voice-overs for adverts on television. South Yorkshire, like a posh Sheffield, she thought.
Teri came over carrying a bundle of papers. “I’ll set you up in the side office to complete your HR forms and then we’ll get you started on the phone.”
“Sounds good to me, Teri,” Eric expressed genuine friendliness too, like he knew how to speak to people. He produced a pen from his top pocket and emphasised clicking it, ready for action.
“Ooh,” said Shona for the second time in the last hour, “a man who is prepared! You must have been a Boy Scout!”
“Not for me, sadly,” Eric looked at the pen closely, like he was remembering, “but it came in handy when I was showing the late Duke of Edinburgh around a factory I used to work in.” His posture stiffened slightly, but he stopped short of what looked like the beginnings of a salute. “My boss didn’t have a pen to hand and he seemed to treat me differently afterwards, like I had crossed a line.”
“Were you in the military, Eric?” Teri asked, taking note of his good posture and apparent patriotism.
“I had a number of friends who joined up just after the Falklands conflict” he started, “and my grandfather did a spell in the Navy. But he never put any pressure on me to join and I didn’t ever feel the need to prove myself in that way.”
“Well,” Teri tried to push things along, as a phone was now ringing, “let’s get these forms sorted and we can all get to know each other a bit later.” Teri gestured to a small office just off their only slightly bigger workspace and led Eric inside to the small table within. “Give me a shout when you’re done.” Teri’s voice got louder as she came back through the door to join Shona again, pulling the handle behind herself.
“Seems nice enough,” started Shona, in a hushed tone, “bit, um, stiff, but he’s pleasant and polite.”
“Hmm,” Teri replied, “let’s see what else he’s done in his lifetime.” She paused, “We know he’s spent time around Prince Phillip.”
Time passed much the same as usual for the two girls, with a fairly steady stream of repetitive and straightforward calls. Shona had another of those rude callers, who can’t get past their own inconvenience long enough to see that the poor girl was trying to help within the limits she was given. She waved away Teri’s attempts to take the call on - Shona knew how it would finish and the likely torrent of choice adjectives that would follow the over-enthusiastic pressing of the “En_ ___l” button.
“Right,” Teri stood up as she spoke, checked her watch and gathered her now empty mug, “It’s fourteen-fourty-two, I reckon Eric should be just about done with that paperwork.”
The door to the small office opened almost the moment she stopped talking and Eric stepped through, studying the papers in his hand to make sure he’d got everything completed.
“All done, Eric?” Teri enquired.
“I believe so, Teri.” Eric nodded once to confirm, “And I understand you need a copy of my passport for the file.” Eric reached into his inside pocket and produced a slightly battered passport.
Teri took the passport from Eric, with a nod of thanks. Absentmindedly, she flipped through the pages, seeing stamp after stamp throughout most of the little book.
“You’ve travelled a lot, it seems!” Teri exclaimed, as she stopped at a couple with non-Latin lettering. “Where is this one from?” She turned the open page to face Eric, who squinted his green eyes slightly, to make out the fuzzily stamped print.
“If my memory serves,” Eric tapped the side of his forehead gently as he remembered, “that is the Ge’ez alphabet, which is indigenous to Ethiopia.” He pointed to the text and tapped the book lightly. “Such a beautiful country, with a sad history.”
“What made you choose Ethiopia, Eric?” Shona asked.
“It’s one of the oldest independent countries in the world, with history spanning back over 3000 years.” Eric’s eyebrows raised to emphasise the point and Shona’s followed in appreciation of the fact.
“Right.” Teri broke the sudden silence and started off towards the little office again, “I’ll get a copy of this and Shona can start you off with the phone and your computer.”
When Teri returned, Eric was logged on and was finding his way around the phone system with relative ease.
Teri and Shona took turns to sit with Eric, showing him where to find resources and letting him listen in on calls, to get a feel for the role. Before the evening breaks, Eric was taking straightforward information calls solo, with Teri listening in for any areas he may need support with.
“Eric.” Teri started, looking at her watch, “I reckon it would be a good time for you to go for some food, it’s just coming up to 18…”
“Ooh, what have you got for dinner?” Shona interrupted.
“I always take a sandwich out with me.” Eric held up a small wax paper parcel he had retrieved from a canvas knapsack, “And a thermos of coffee.” The flask was displayed shortly thereafter.
“And you weren’t a Boy Scout?” Shona tilted her head quizzically.
“I assure you not,” Eric confirmed, “but it doesn’t mean I should be ill-prepared!”
They all laughed, as Eric took himself off to the canteen area to eat.
“How do you think it’s going?” Shona asked Teri, once Eric was out of earshot.
“Seems okay so far,” Teri was about as enthusiastic as she ever showed, “He picks things up quite quickly and he’s really good with people on the phone.”
“Maybe we’ll have a full team for a while then.” Shona was hopeful, after so long of just the two of them. Holidays and sickness made for stressful days when you are normally only a team of two.
Eric returned from his break and visited the men’s room.
“It’s eighteen-oh-five now,” said Teri, looking at her watch, “So I’ll go now and then you can have your break.”
“Works for me!” Shona preferred a later stop, closer to shift end.
Eric came back to his desk as Teri was heading out the door to find fast food down the road.
“What do you think, Eric?” Shona asked her new colleague, “Is this the job for you?”
“It’s certainly been a pleasure working with you both today,” Eric’s responses alway hit the right note, “And I think, going forwards, I can support you, and the customers of course, fairly well.”
“I’m sure you will!” Shona beamed a smile and picked up a call.
With only two on the phones over the next hour, it felt quite busy and Eric fielded some more technical queries whilst Teri, and then Shona, were at lunch.
The second Shona returned and sat down, it was like the phone line had been cut - there was complete silence for just a few moments. Teri subconsciously checked to make sure the phones were working - those first two minutes seemed to drag for hours. One call came in and Eric picked it up first.
Teri’s impatience for the quieter spell started to show really quickly.
“Oh, come on!” She exclaimed, although not too loudly as Eric was wrapping up a call about user instructions, “Slow evenings are the worst!”
“Not so bad for a first day though, ay Eric?” Shona winked at her new co-worker and he returned her smile.
“But the time is just dragging…it’s so long until close!” Teri looked at her watch, “I mean it’s only nineteen-twenty-eight!”
There was an odd silence that followed and Shona thought she caught movement from Eric on the edge of her peripheral vision. He sat, stony faced and still, looking at a point that seemed miles away in the distance.
“1928. A year of great social and political change.” Eric’s voice was clear and concise, so much so that it was almost robotic in tone. But with that velvet accent…Teri found herself involuntarily swoon a little inside.
“Eric? Are you okay?” Shona enquired, as she stared at the glassy sheen that had developed in Eric’s unsettlingly fixed gaze.
“In February, the first transatlantic television signal is sent from London to New York by Scottish inventor John Logie Baird; whilst in Switzerland, the first separately-staged Winter Olympics take place. By early July, women in the UK can vote from the age of 21, equal suffrage with men.”
Teri opened and closed her mouth as she struggled to think what to say; Shona’s wide-eyed look flitted from Eric’s fixed countenance to Teri’s odd fish impression.
“Walt Disney’s iconic mouse pairing of Mickey & Minnie make their first appearance in animated short ‘Plane Crazy’.”
“What’s going on?” Shona whispered loudly at Teri, as Eric broke off briefly.
“I don’t know!” Teri hissed back.
“New women’s events categories debut at the Amsterdam-staged Summer Olympics, alongside Coca-Cola’s entry into Europe as official sponsor. On a slightly less global scale, the first machine-sliced and -wrapped loaf of bread is sold in Missouri, USA.” When he stopped talking, Eric’s features were perfectly still, like a statue.
“Is there more?” Shona asked aloud, not taking her gaze from Eric’s still form.
“How would I know?” Teri’s famed impatience crept into her tone as she tried to work out what she was going to tell HR about the forms she would be forced to shred at the end of shift, whilst looking at Eric’s empty desk.
“In the Autumn of 1928,” Eric continued suddenly, like he paused to change seasons, “medical advances see the first use of an iron lung respirator in Boston; whilst across the pond, Scottish physician Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin whilst working in a London hospital. The International Red Cross is also established.”
“What do you think came about in the Winter of ’28?” Shona asked innocently, now feeling a sense of wonder about the speech.
“Shona!” Teri admonished her colleague, “There’s clearly a problem with the man; what the hell are we going to do?”
They didn’t get a chance to discuss what they might do, as Eric started to wrap up his unscheduled presentation.
“As the year closes, Herbert Hoover wins the US Presidential election; Mickey Mouse makes his first generally distributed appearance in Steamboat Willie; and Pavel’s Bolero debuts in Paris.”
Eric paused long and silent, but didn’t move. Shona leaned towards Teri and opened her mouth to speak, just as Eric finished his short history lesson.
“On the last day of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, December 21st, the US Congress approves construction on Boulder Dam, later to be renamed after the recently elected President.”
The features on Eric’s face relaxed, but he didn’t actually move yet.
“Eric…?” Teri began, “Everything okay?”
“Teri,” Eric replied, blinking for the first time in 3 minutes, “all well thank you.”
Teri looked across at Shona and gestured in a ‘what the hell?’ manner, her hands held wide in disbelief. Eric looked from one girl to the other and gave a puzzled expression.
“Is everything okay with you?” he asked, clearly oblivious.
“Well…” began Shona.
“What the hell was that all about?” Teri was on her feet, her voiced carrying a touch too loudly to be considered polite.
“Oh.” Eric started, “Did it happen again?” His tone was apologetic and understanding. Teri’s was not.
“Did ‘what’ happen again??!!” Teri couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What was this guy’s problem?
Eric sighed before replying. “What year was it this time?” He looked downcast and disappointed, like he knew he wasn’t coming back tomorrow.
“1928!” Shona chimed in, with a much more enthusiastic tone than her colleague. Teri gave Shona a hard look, who didn’t notice before continuing. “It was fascinating! All those things happening in one year, right in the middle of that time between the wars.”
Teri had calmed somewhat before she next spoke and her tone was much softer. “So,” she began, “what’s it all about, Eric?”
Shona was about to chime in with a modified rendition of the old Cilla Black classic, but wisely decided against it.
“Truth be told, Teri,” Eric replied, “I don’t know.”
“When did it start?” Shona asked.
Eric turned to face Shona as he spoke earnestly about a problem that had plagued him for some time now.
“It’s gotten steadily worse over the years, but it started to happen after I left university.”
“Let me guess,” Shona’s eyes lit up as she spoke, “history degree?”
“That’s right.” Eric nodded, “I studied as a mature student, at York University.” He paused before clarifying, “Considered a fine establishment for studying the past.”
“Did you have a favourite time period?” Shona asked.
Teri would have preferred a slightly more relevant line of enquiry, but she instead rearranged her headset whilst simultaneously accepting an incoming call on her base unit. “Unknown Product Solutions, how can I help?”
“I love all history and studied a broad spectrum during my time in York, with emphasis on northern events.” Eric nodded with pride when he spoke about the region he came from. “And, to that end, I was fascinated by the industrial revolution.”
“Oh, Luddites and spinning jennys!” Shona was genuinely enthusiastic. Teri was still not.
“That’s right, Shona.” Eric was finding his stride a bit, starting to hope for a reprieve. “Where I am from, Sheffield, had a big part to play in the supply of steel to the world in the early days of the revolution.”
“Sheffield? As in Wednesday?” Shona asked. Teri pulled a face.
“Please.” Eric gave her a sideways glance. “United.” He clarified.
Shona laughed and broke off as she took another call. Teri was still dealing with the customer she had picked up, so Eric sat there and idly flipped through the HR manual Teri had given him.
At that moment, the phone rang on Eric’s desk. Eric looked at the phone and then straight at Teri; she reflected the same ‘what now’ expression. Looking across at Shona, she gave a helpless gesture as she continued her call. Eric looked at the phone as it rang for a fifth time, took a deep breath and lifted the handset from the cradle.
Teri’s eyes went wide, as Eric’s placed the phone against his ear and spoke clearly into the mouthpiece - “Unknown Product Solutions. This is Eric speaking, how can I help you this evening?” Teri mimed mopping her brow and smiled at Eric as he looked up at her. Shona lifted both arms in the air and feigned clapping, beaming a huge smile at the newbie from the north.
With all three of them talking, Teri was finding it difficult to pick out Eric’s low tone, so it was hard to tell how his first call was going. Eventually, her call wrapped up and she dialled into Eric’s phone line to observe - unfortunately, she only caught the very end of the call.
“...thank you very much Eric,” spoke an older, strained voice, “you’ve been most helpful.”
“You’re very welcome, Sir.” Eric’s voice carried earnestly as he signed off and put the phone back down.
“Sounded like that went well?” enquired Teri.
“Nice chap,” Eric confirmed, “needed help with an appliance.”
“They aren’t all that easy.” Teri recalled her earlier call and winced a little.
“I always keep the nice ones locked away.” Eric tapped the side of his head, “So that the bad ones don’t seem so bad and there’s no room to put them anyway.”
“That’s a very positive philosophy, Eric.” Teri nodded in agreement.
“I’ve had to leave, and avoid, jobs because of the potted history thing.” Eric was sullen as he raised the elephant in the room. “I naturally avoid any role that involves birth dates, or large sums of money.”
Shona stifled a giggle to prevent disrupting her call. Teri gave him a warm smile.
“I can imagine the havoc you would wreak on a full banking hall, or at the passport office!”, she jested.
“I think it was worst at the medical centre,” Eric paused before the punchline, “I didn’t make it to lunchtime on the first day!”
Shona just managed to reach the mute button before howling with laughter and even Teri couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Eric smiled, realising that he would probably be okay working with these two.
“Are there any years we should avoid?” Teri posed a serious question, but with an element of mischief in her voice.
“Based on what happened earlier, anytime between 4 and 7pm would be best.” It was Eric’s turn to give a wicked smile, “Lot of history happens in the afternoons!”
Shona was crying with laughter and only just keeping it together as her call finished.
“In all seriousness though,” Eric continued, “I’d avoid between 8 and 8.30. A lot of raw memories in that timeframe for some people, so it’s better to steer clear.”
“Maybe I’ll take my last tea break then!” joked Teri.
“Speaking of which…” Eric stood and reached for the tray, “Must be my round!”
“It’s like you read my mind!” Teri said, “I’ll show you the facilities.”
“...Best to not use numbers together, like a year format.” Eric explained to Shona and Teri as the phones quietened down for the end of shift at 10pm. “I have found that using single digits doesn’t trigger the reaction.”
“She’s the one you need to watch!” Shona pointed an accusatory finger at her colleague, “Teri uses the 24hr clock to tell the time out loud - that’s how all this started!”
“Hey!” Teri endeavoured to defend herself and realised that it probably was down to her, “So, saying it one-nine-two-eight would work?”
Shona got there before Eric could respond. “Or maybe just call it half-past-seven!”
Even Teri laughed at herself at this point.
“It will take a little adjustment,” Eric sounded like he was speaking from experience, “but I feel like you two will watch my back for me.”
“You got it, Eric!” Shona’s enthusiasm, even this late in the day, was unshakeable.
“If you’ll excuse me a moment,” Eric lifted himself out of his chair, “but I think I’ll avail myself of the facilities.”
As the door shut behind him, Teri leaned into Shona and whispered to her. “What do you think? Reckon this will work?”
“In fairness, Teri,” began Shona, “it’s most likely to come down to not letting you give the time.”
“Noted.” Teri nodded her head in agreement, “He won’t encounter many years on the phone, at least.”
