Willful Ignorance: Not Helpful

While walking a woman through our voicemail system today, she began following along with the Quick Start guide I'd given her. She began pressing buttons, following the flowchart and trying to make some changes to her environment.

She wasn't getting anywhere. Because the phone was on the hook. I explained to her that she had to log into her voicemail box before she could, y'know, start using her voicemail, and she had the gumption to say to me in a half-deprecating manner "You're talking to an illiterate."

The woman has more letters after her name than I have letters in my name. And yet she cannot tell the difference between a hung-up phone and one that's giving her a dialtone.