History Main / TheOperatorsMustBeCrazy

* In ''{{Dilbert}}'', Dogbert answers calls with "How may we abuse you?" when he is acting as a phone operator.

** In the famous Michael Jackson episode, Marge is also driven to tears by the song "Crazy" (the Patsy Cline song, not the Aerosmith one) while being placed on hold with the Springfield Mental Hospital.

** In the famous Michael Jackson episode, Marge is also driven to tears by the song "Crazy" (a country song, not the Aerosmith version) while being placed on hold with the Springfield Mental Hospital.

* One pre-geckko Geico ad featured a young man telling an Operator that his name was Bob Wehadababyitsaboy in order to save long distance rates.

* ''AhMyGoddess'', Keiichi gets a direct line to the Goddess Help Line, when he's trying to order a meal.

* In the Chevy Chase film, ''Funny Farm,'' the protagonist is desperately trying to contact the sheriff's department on the phone (because there is a dead body in his back yard). He only has a normal phone, but apparently all phones in this region are pay-phones and the operator refuses to connect him unless he puts a couple of dimes into the nonexistant coin slot.

* The soldiers in Grenada who called in their situation from a civilian telephone, and had to give a credit card number before the call was relayed (after which a gunship came in to save them). This is certainly the inspiration for the {{Film/Transformers}} example, and was depicted in the ClintEastwood movie HeartbreakRidge.

* ''DieHard'' had a police dispatcher give John [=McClane=] a hard time when he radioed in the terrorist attack.

* The recent Discover credit card commercials: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8L2cI8brzQ Thank you for calling USA Prime Credit. My name is Peggy...]]"

This trope actually is TruthInTelevision. In fact, one reason that telephone companies began hiring young women instead of young men was because the young men that they hired had a bad tendency to get into arguments with the callers.

** In the episode where Maggie gets lost, Homer's on hold with '''the police department''' waiting for word on Maggie, and the song he hears on told, "Baby Come Back," brings him to TEARS.

* David Spade played a very unhelpful operator in a series of Capital One commercials.

* ''DieHard'' had a police dispatcher give John McClain a hard time when he radioed in the terrorist attack.

** According to Micheal Bay, this was based on an [[TruthInTelevision actual incident that happened to an American soldier on the field.]]

* Nichols And May - They do a sketch about a bizarre and difficult operator. Sink the link [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LjmG4qtkO0 here]].

** ''ScreamingSkull'': The movie opens with a bizarre message from the studio, warning that the film could kill viewers from sheer terror, and promising to provide a free coffin for anyone who dies. Halfway through watching the film, Crow calls the studio to scam a free coffin off them by claiming that Tom Servo died of fright. The operator is so completely professional about the proceedings that Crow begins to have second thoughts, and when she starts demanding personal information so the coffin can be delivered, Crow decides to abort. But before Crow can hang up, the operator announces that the coffin has already shipped, and if they want to return it they'll have to pay shipping both ways.

* ''Series/GilligansIsland'' had one where an undersea cable washed up on the island and they tried to rig up a phone to tap into it, getting a very uncooperative operator who did things like ask them to insert ten cents without listening when told there's no place to put money in an undersea cable.

* In ''SmallSoldiers,'' Alan tries to call Globotech to complain about the Commando Elites coming to life and wrecking his dad's toy store, but the operator is actively unhelpful to the point that he ultimately ''asks'' to be transferred to a machine - right before the operator ''gets his gender wrong.''

* As with most comedy tropes, TheSimpsons has toyed around with this one.

* FibberMcGeeAndMolly's Myrt, who was never heard, but always got sidetracked telling Fibber the latest gossip and never put the call through
* Gertrude Gearshift and Mabel Flapsaddle of TheJackBennyProgram, who were too busy making wisecracks and infuriating Jack to put the call through.

* AbbottAndCostello - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOYMI3vR28E This skit]] in the episode "Who Done It."
* Nichols And May - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LjmG4qtkO0 This sketch]]

->...the third event, which was a rampaging mob of long-distance telephone operators who had got so twisted with having to say, all day and every day, "Thank you for using BS&S" to every single idiot who picked up a phone that they had finally taken to the streets with trash cans, megaphones and rifles.
->In the ensuing days of carnage every single window in the city, rocket-proof or not, was smashed, usually to accompanying cries of "Get off the line, asshole! I don't care what number you want, what extension you're calling from. Go and stick a firework up your bottom! Yeeehaah! Hoo Hoo Hoo! Velooooom! Squawk" and a variety of other animal noises that they didn't get a chance to practice in the normal line of their work.
->As a result of this, all telephone operators were granted a constitutional right to say "Use BS&S and die!" at least once an hour when answering the phone and all office buildings were required to have windows that opened, even if only a little bit.

* David Spade played a very unhelpful operator in a series of Credit One commercials.

Except when they aren't. For some reason, the operators in this work don't want to do what they're supposed to, and they rebel against the system any time they're reached. At their worst, these operators will harass the calling people and verge on sounding like prank callers themselves, and it's hard to imagine that they'll keep their jobs for a particularly long time.

* In ''{{Dilbert}}'', Dogbert use the CatchPhrase "!how may we abuse you ? " when he is a phone operator and is true to it