Stress One Now

To continue on the topic of automated answering systems, you may enjoy the chapter "Stress One Now" from Whoopi Goldberg's 2010 book Is It Just Me? Or Is It Nuts Out There?

If you are a current customer, say 'yes.'"
"No."
"So, to confirm, you are a current customer, correct? If so, say yes."
"No."
"Good. I'll connect you to current customer relations. Your wait time is approximately...horty-hoo inutes."

(I find that yelling "Operator...assistance...human being." into the phone connects me to the right department about 15% of the time.)

Goldberg's other chapters include "Louder, They Can't Hear You in the Lobby," and "Road Rude."  She says some unkind things about bloggers, but I'll overlook them, since I agree with her on many points.

I'm a little surprised that even though she's a famous star Goldberg knows about office nuisances like people leaving science projects in the fridge, and not refilling the photocopy paper.  I assume she has assistants to research things like that.