Telephone Operator Anyone?
The following are supposedly real conversations Directory Enquiries operators had with callers, as revealed in interviews with staff at the Cardiff Centre.
Caller: I would like the number of the Argoed Fish Bar in Cardiff, please.
Operator: I'm sorry, there's no listing. Is the spelling correct?
Caller: Well, it used to be called the Bargoed Fish Bar but the B fell off.
Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: Woven? Are you sure?
Caller: Yes. That is what it says on the label - Woven in Scotland.
Caller: I would like the RSPCA please.
Operator: Where are you calling from?
Caller: The living room
Caller: The water board please.
Operator: Which department?
Caller: Tap water.
Operator: How are you spelling that?
Caller: With letters.
Caller: I would like the number for a reverend in Cardiff, please.
Operator: Do you have his name?
Caller: No, but he has a dog named Ben.
Caller: The Union of Shopkeepers and Alligators please.
Operator: You mean the Amalgamated Union of Shopkeepers?
On another occasion, a man making heavy breathing sounds from a phone box told he worried operator:
"I haven't got a pen so I'm steaming up the window to write the number on.