I was sitting in my office, and my new office mate had a few people in her office trying to troubleshoot the newest feature they had added to their program. They needed to call someone in, but didn’t have his phone number, so they called the directory. We were all shocked at what came next.

Hi, this is Bill Gates.

Everyone stood there, shocked, not quite sure what to do. Did we mis-dial? What was going on?

Thanks for calling Microsoft. Please speak the name of the person you want to talk to, and we’ll connect you right away.

Nervous laughter ensued, as well as a comment – something like, “You’d think he’d have better things to do.” It was all my office mate could do to remember to ask for the person’s phone number she had called for.

I think there’s something interesting going on here. It reminds me of when I called my former doctor to set up an appointment, and he answered. I suppose having the head of the company answer when you call could be considered great customer service, but does it also bring a negative association in our society? Something like, “Why aren’t you busy working?”

In Microsoft’s case, it’s not quite the same, but I wonder if it doesn’t still invoke the same instinctive reaction of shock and confusion.