Sudden Delays

It always surprises me when a conversation goes suddenly quiet. For example, I've recently been in the thick of negotiations on a potential deal when suddenly there was a deafening silence from the other side. It turns out my correspondent had booked two weeks holiday. Can you imagine if domestic life mirrored the business world:
“Honey, would you put the rubbish out?”
(Silence for two weeks)
“Honey where were you?”
“Oh, I went away for two weeks. Shall I put the rubbish out?”