Greetings.  On a recent call to our bank's customer service department I was excited to have the opportunity to talk with their automated representative.  She began by saying a very business-like "Welcome" and then proceeded to ask me a set of questions designed to get at the heart of my problem.  She had a calm and reassuring voice and sounded very focused as she worked her way through each scripted phrase.  To her credit, she kept trying to make clear her desire to stay on task–continually rebuffing any errant response.  And once I finally got with the program, I dutifully responded with clearer and more concise answers.  Answers intended to help her and the bank zoom in on the problem they had created for me. And I quickly realized that confusing this poor electronic soul would only frustrate both of us, thus delaying my ability to speak with a real human being who might actually solve my problem.  So I hung in there for about five minutes, as this slick piece of software posing as customer service agent tried to train me.  Eventually I pushed enough of the right buttons and offered enough of the correct responses to be transferred to a real person who was less clear than her robotic co-worker but slightly more empowered to resolve my concern.