A friend of mine came up with a great trick, for when her husband calls, but she doesn’t want to offend one of the self-important (yet neurotically insecure) Industry types she deals with every day.
When she programmed her husband’s number into her cell phone, she set the name to “Steven Spielberg.”
No matter who she’s talking to, there is a 100% chance they’re not as important as Spielberg. Whoever’s in the room with her, she just flashes them the phone screen and goes, “I’m sorry, I really gotta take this.”
They just nod politely, suddenly a lot more impressed with my friend, and the company she keeps.
The best part is, her husband’s name actually is Steve. “Hey, Steve, what’s up?”
Oh, my God, not only does she know Steven Spielberg, but she calls him Steve!
It works every time.
