The Sweet Sound Of Silence

Silence is golden they say...a nice phrase to use once in a while, but even nicer when you actually get a real life feel of it. The other day I called up my bank for resolving some queries regarding my credit card. Banks (or their call centres, whatever) are flooded with calls, I know, but is it really necessary to hammer every waiting customer with the inanely stupid "Your call is important to us, please stay on the line" in a seemingly infinite loop, interspersed with the jingles from their currently running ads, which by the way, I have had enough of on TV already. Did you know, that you can be a "Smart Customer" if you can demonstrate the sublime skill of sending an SMS to the Bank's number and get your account status? WOW. Didn't know that smartness had gotten redefined lately. Heck, can't they just put on some nice gentle music? And then, suddenly, in the middle of all this soporific blabbering came a pause. Nothing... blankness, before it all started again. Silence had never been sweeter.