Please note well, all you writers, editors, directors
out there: when a phone call is terminated
by the other person you do not, NOT, hear
the buzz of a dial tone. You hear a faint click
and then silence, absolute silence, the Great
Silence, more eloquent than any electronic
buzz could ever be. In fact the dial tone
cannot be heard until you yourself hang up
and then lift the receiver again. Further
note this: you cannot tell from the click
if the other person has hung up reluctantly
or desperately, softly or violently. It is only
the sound of a disconnected circuit. I've read
this error in a thousand books, I've seen it
in a thousand movies, and how so many
of you can be so unobservant, you who
call yourselves artists, is beyond me.
Ah, my friends, you are becoming my
enemies, and I'm appalled by your irreverence
for the simple truth that should sustain us all.