Message #1302

[bethalize]

Oh, oh, I got one! I got one!

This was when I worked at the Unversity of Cambridge.



"Hello, Bethalize. How may I help you?"

"Hello. I want to speak to Mr Smith (it was really some important physicist's name, but I forget)"

"One moment" (checking the list.

"I'm sorry, I don't seem to have a Mr Smith on my list. Are you certain you have the right number?"

"This is physics, isn't it?"

"That's right. What department is he in, I mean, is he an academic, or staff?"

"Oh, defintely an academic."

"Do you know how long has Mr Smith been here?"

"Oh, years and years."

"Hmm. Let me check my university wide directory. No, sorry, can't see him. Do you have his initials?"

"J J."

*pause*

"Do you mean Professor Smith?"

"Yes, that's him."

"I'm sorry to have to tell you that Professor is no longer with us."

"Oh. I'm sorry. When did this happen?"

"1963."



And then there was the lovely lady from the Arizona channel who kept ringing me up about a programme she was doing about the discovery of DNA. She wanted to know if we had anything about Crick and Watson. She was very disappointed that we didn't really have anything about them and was saying how she thought that we would have whole museums of stuff about them.

There was a pause.

Me: "Umm, were you aware that they are both still alive?"

Her: "Gosh, really? (all delighted) Do you have a number for them?"

I told her to look them up in Who's Who in the end. She mailed me later to say she had an appointment with one of them.