Please Hold

Question 1

This is the future, my wife says. 
We are already there, and it’s the same 
as the present. Your future, here, she says. 
And I’m talking to a robot on the phone. 
The robot is giving me countless options, 
none of which answer to my needs. 
Wonderful, says the robot 
when I give him my telephone number. 
And Great, says the robot 
when I give him my account number

Answer 1

“Please” – politeness but it is fake and un genuine

This is the future – Wife is just as monotonous and unhelpful

Wonderful and Great – General terms that are devoid of meaning

Question 2

I have a wonderful telephone number 
and a great account number, 
but I can find nothing to meet my needs 
on the telephone, and into my account 
(which is really the robot’s account) 
goes money, my money, to pay for nothing. 
I’m paying a robot for doing nothing. 
This call is free of charge, says the mind-reading robot. 
Yes but I’m paying for it, I shout, 
out of my wonderful account 

Answer 2

I have a wonderful … - sarcasm / emphasises the lack of understanding these robots have

My – Posession juxtaposes the robots control

Wonderful – Twists and repeats the robots words in a sarcastic tone contrasting the politeness of the robot / shows the lack of humanity and emotion in the robot as it continues to be polite

Question 3

into my great telephone bill. 
Wonderful, says the robot. 
And my wife says, This is the future. 
I’m sorry, I don’t understand, says the robot. 
Please say Yes or No. 
Or you can say Repeat or Menu. 
You can say Yes, No, Repeat or Menu, 
Or you can say Agent if you’d like to talk 
to someone real, who is just as robotic. 
I scream Agent! and am cut off, 

Answer 3

Who is just as robotic – sense of hopelessness

Agent – human interaction / “cut off” human disconnection

Say to Scream – escalation of emotion present in the vocal imagery

Question 4

and my wife says, This is the future. 
We are already there and it’s the same 
as the present. Your future, here, she says. 
And I’m talking to a robot on the phone, 
and he is giving me no options 
in the guise of countless alternatives. 

Answer 4

Is - present tense sense of immediacy

Your future – sense of entrapment a lack of choice

Guise – hidden or allusion / mirrors how the robot is meant to give the illusion of human interaction but truly is devoid of it

No options – hopelessness

Alternatives – implies everything but what is desired / points to the persona’s reason for being frustrated

Question 5

We appreciate your patience. Please hold. 
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Please hold. 
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Please hold. 
Eine fucking Kleine Nachtmusik. 

Answer 5

Caesura – mirrors the structure and rigidity (anaphora)

Eine – even in music something so creative can be turned bad by the roboticness of the future / the robot is corrupting what is typically good shows the frustration and lack of patience

Fucking – expletive language

Question 6

And the robot transfers me to himself. 
Your call is important to us, he says. 
And my translator says, This means 
your call is not important to them. 
And my wife says, This is the future. 
And my translator says, Please hold 
means that, for all your accomplishments, 
the only way you can now meet your needs 
is by looting. Wonderful, says the robot 

Answer 6

Transfers me to himself – cycle or inescapably

Translator – highlights the difference between the robot and the persona / whilst the robot is meant to mirror a human the persona is showing the distance and divide

Translator – emphasises the frustration and hilarity of the situation / twisting the programmed automatic words

Contrasting the unchanging robotic and the very angered persona

Question 7

Please hold. Please grow old. Please grow cold. 
Please do what you’re told. Grow old. Grow cold. 
This is the future. Please hold.

Answer 7

Old – degeneration and tiresome

Cold – lack and devoid of emotion becoming a robot