SekreterCell

One of the things I noticed immediately on my first trip to Turkey in 2001 was the omnipresent Turkcell logo.

Rather inexplicably, the country's main cell phone provider has chosen to identify itself with what looks like a be-tuxedoed banana slug. Since that strange creature was also my college mascot, it made me feel right at home.

Now, thanks to Ayla, I have a Turkcell of my very own. Here, they call voicemail "SekreterCell." As the Turkcell website^* explains, it is "just like a private assistant" who will "save the message of the person that called you, when your number is busy, or when you can’t answer it." Quelle nouveau!

You also have to tell your phone that you want to divert missed calls to your "secretary" -- it's not the default option. When I get a little fancier, I may try out one of the assuredly hilarious prerecorded greetings, like "Funny butcher," "Listening to you, honey," or "How we used to stay with our moms." Either that, or the theme from The Godfather.

^{* UPDATE: Sadly, this feature, or at least the hilarious description of it, appears to have been discontinued...}