Structure of a Phone Conversation

I was talking to Drew last night about the structure of a typical phone conversation. I had thought this through a while ago but I suddenly realized this could be quite blog-worthy so here goes...

The basic structure of the call is as follows:

1. Preamble
2. The Point
3. Post-amble
4. Re-iteration of The Point
5. Goodbyes

Depending on the individuals concerned, preamble and postamble can be short or even non-existant. An example of this would be The Point ending with "okbye", often experienced by those arranging plans with Drew in a hurry over the phone.

If the parties concerned are of a more conversational disposition, however, pre and postamble may be fairly lengthy, creating a need for #4, the re-iteration of The Point. Such a call might go something like this:

Person A: Hey man, how's it going?
Person B: Good, good.
(Start of preamble)
Person A: Cool. How are tricks - did you have a good weekend?
Person B: (Talks at length about weekend)
(Start of The Point)
Person A: Nice one. Well, anyway, I was calling to ask if you're up for catching a movie tonight. Some of us are going to Colossus at 7.
Person B: Yeah, sounds good.
(Transition to post-amble)
Person A: Cool, it'll be good to catch up. Hey, did you see that other movie with that guy...
Person B: (Talks at length about movies, life and whatever else)
(Person A starts running out of time and transitions to re-iteration of The Point.)
Person A: Cool, ok so I'll see you at 7 then?
Person B: At Colossus?
Person A: Yeah, for the movie.
Person B: Oh, yeah. Right. OK, I'll see you then.
(Goodbye phase)
Person A: See you then, then.
Person B: Cool, bye.
Person A: Bye.
(End of conversation)

Now, I could have gone on to the extended goodbye version where there's a considerable amount of back-and-forth before the phones are actually hung up.

Also, I've not even got started on phone conversations where there is no point in the first place. I like to think of such calls as "pure amble" for obvious reasons.

With some cell/mobile calls, you can add the "where are you?" clause to the start of the preamble. That was always a favourite in calls I heard on the train back in Bonnie Scotland.

Do you have any thoughts of amusing phone call foibles and anomalies? Do comment, do comment...