View Full Version : Jan and the telephone operator


jenjen
02-16-2006, 12:20 AM
When I was little I saw the episode I think it was "her Sister's shadow" where Jan makes believe she has a boyfriend. Before dinner she calls the operator and tells her that they are having trouble with their phone and could she please ring it. She even gives the obligatory phoney number. Well I tried that and my operator told me NO, and to stop playing on the phone and tell your parents to call repair service! I found out the next day that some of my friends tried it to with different results...yeah we didn't have a life!!:lol:

erin05
02-16-2006, 02:45 AM
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

comedyfreak
02-16-2006, 09:34 AM
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Waterston_Fan
02-16-2006, 07:49 PM
:lol: :lol:

Rich3
02-16-2006, 10:29 PM
I get the feeling businesses and people in general were friendlier and more service oriented in decades past. Everything was more professional. Although it could have been a made up scenario by the writers, and maybe that wasn't something an operator normally did.

It's sad when I see poorly trained or unenthused customer service people these days. They don't even realize that practicing their customer service skills will help them in so many areas in life. Otherwise they would be more motivated. They're too much like Peter working at the ice cream shop, and not enough like Marcia or Jan.

Waterston_Fan
02-17-2006, 08:42 PM
Yeah I agree... But customers seem ruder too.. talking on their cellphones while they are talking to the assiociate... I feel bad for the guy who is talking to the customer...

Twice I had a situation where I hoped the customer was talking to me and not at the person on the phone when she asked a question....

TV Guy
02-17-2006, 10:11 PM
When I was younger there was actually a three digit number that you could dial, hang up, and then the phone would ring. I guess it was intended as a tester, but the ring was slightly sped up, so you really couldn't use it to play a trick on anyone.

Rich3
02-17-2006, 11:52 PM
Customers are definitely ruder too. When I was a kid I remember hearing about pranks where people would order a bunch of pizzas to be delivered to someone as a joke. Brady Bunch probably preceded that.

Nowadays businesses would not fall for such a prank. It's like there's more checks in place in their systems.

Waterston_Fan
02-18-2006, 01:43 PM
Really.. wow, I didn't realize people played pranks on pizza places.. I guess that's why they ask for the caller's phone number they are at.

magellan333
02-18-2006, 04:37 PM
When I was four or five (in the early 80s) my brother conviced me he was psychic because he kept saying, "The phone is about to ring." Sure enough it would. I found out some time later he used Jan's method to do that.

gidgetgrape
02-18-2006, 06:58 PM
Most of the time I get one of those "Press 1 for ... Press 2 for ...." messages when I call customer service. So annoying! :mad:

I wonder how hard it would be to get information (or if it's even possible) to get a pay telephone installed in your home like Mike did in season one.

magellan333
02-18-2006, 09:31 PM
Most of the time I get one of those "Press 1 for ... Press 2 for ...." messages when I call customer service. So annoying! :mad:

I wonder how hard it would be to get information (or if it's even possible) to get a pay telephone installed in your home like Mike did in season one.

I doubt it. It is getting even harder to find one in public.

caladon
02-18-2006, 10:02 PM
Back in the days of rotary (dial) phones, the number we would use to make the telephone ring was 119911. Of course this will not work nowadays but it did back then.

Ireneparalegal
02-18-2006, 10:05 PM
nowadays you just dial your own telephone number, hang up and it will call right back.

erin05
02-18-2006, 11:23 PM
we ring 137 over here and it rings bak

PracTz
02-19-2006, 08:33 PM
When I was little I saw the episode I think it was "her Sister's shadow" where Jan makes believe she has a boyfriend. Before dinner she calls the operator and tells her that they are having trouble with their phone and could she please ring it. She even gives the obligatory phoney number. Well I tried that and my operator told me NO, and to stop playing on the phone and tell your parents to call repair service! I found out the next day that some of my friends tried it to with different results...yeah we didn't have a life!!:lol:


Maybe your Operator had seen that episode and wasn't going to fall for it!:lol:

Rich3
02-20-2006, 12:28 AM
When I was a kid I looked up a local Steve Martin in my phone book. I called him and asked, "Is this Steve Martin? Really?"

The funny thing is, he just kind of chuckled. He said, "Yes, it is." He seemed amused and not offended.

I was like, "Wow. That's cool." Then I hung up. I was a wild man.

jenjen
02-20-2006, 02:43 PM
Maybe your Operator had seen that episode and wasn't going to fall for it!:lol:

Yeah! She probably did!!!
Also, with all the new technology Jan wouldn't have had to call the operator! Geesh...she would have been able to "hire" a boyfriend!:crazy:

Scoobiedoo30
02-23-2006, 05:35 PM
if my memory is Corect is that the episode where
Jan want's the Family to think she is on The Phone
with some boy named George

jenjen
02-24-2006, 04:40 PM
if my memory is Corect is that the episode where
Jan want's the Family to think she is on The Phone
with some boy named George

Yep! That was the one!

Rich3
02-24-2006, 09:46 PM
George "Glass" to be exact.

Scoobiedoo30
02-24-2006, 10:00 PM
Thanks For the last name I did not know what George Last
Name was.