After an hour-long technical support telephone call with a phenomenally uninteresting Dell technician, the mood and attitude of Kevin Gerhart, computer technician for the Mason County Central School District, improved greatly when he was placed on hold.

“This guy was terrible!”  Gerhart ranted.  “Extremely lame small talk while he waited for his database to tell him what to do, comments about the weather; it was pretty sad!  I guess I should be grateful that I got an American and not some guy from Outer Mongolia who can barely speak English.  But it was still an hour of my life wasted!"

Gerhart’s demeanor took a positive turn at the 57-minute mark, when the Dell technician requested to put Gerhart on hold to speak with his supervisor about the warranty parts in question.

After being assured by the automated announcer that indeed, “[my] call was important to [them]” the hold music resumed.  “Oops, I Did it Again” was then played over Gerhart’s speakerphone.  Driven to the limits of his patience, Gerhart began to engage in some mutant form of dancing, apparently in an effort to hold off mounting hysteria and frustration.

“OK!  I’ll admit it!  I was grooving to Britney Spears on-hold music!” Gerhart exclaimed.  “There is no shame in that!  I was desperate!  I was in danger of going crazy!  It’s not like I was busting a funky move over here or anything!”

MCC students passing by Gerhart’s office reported that he was indeed engaged in grooving of some form.

“It was pretty strange,” high school senior Remington Greiner commented.  “I was walking to my car and just happened to glance over at Kevin’s office.  Through the window I could see him sort of half-dancing.  He was seated in his office chair, rolling it around the room and - I don’t know, dancing!  It was kind of disturbing.”

“Show me the Meaning of Being Lonely” by the Backstreet Boys followed “Oops, I Did it Again,” but was fortunately interrupted by the technician returning to the line to complete the support call.