‘That’s how all my prayers start’: Voicemail message goes hilariously awry when an unexpected name leaves caller stunned

There are three things all Millennials fear: An unexpected visitor, plans that begin after 8pm on a weekday, and having to leave a voicemail.

The latter is also, unfortunately, on the list of things most every adult has to do every once in awhile. Whether it be a work call or just a casual catchup, voicemails are the bane of most Millennial’s existence, but none quite so much as TikToker @iclairealot.

The content creator largely builds her following on her “uniquely original” “weird’ brand, but her accidental slip-up while leaving a professional voicemail quickly shot past her other videos to become the most popular on her page. She’s the voicemail lady now, whether she likes it or not, and more than 2 million viewers see her as just that.

All due to a teeny tiny mistake in pronunciation, which saw a clearly zoned-out Claire slip up on her delivery of a first name. Starting off strong with a quick moment of disassociation, Claire immediately fumbles when she realizes it’s time to speak. That bit of disassociation cost her — she neglected to review the name beforehand, and as a result her brain is a beat late. That leaves our poor protagonist to cheerily greet “Jesus” (as in the son of God) rather than Jesús, the common Spanish name.

This misstep literally steals the words from Claire’s mouth, leaving her to exist in silent anguish for an excruciating five seconds before she finds her voice again. The TikToker is breezy as can be through the rest of the voicemail — in which she introduces herself as a representative of the Executive Education Department and offers to treat Jesús to lunch — and absolutely nails his name on the second go. Unfortunately, that first failure still looms.

That’s made clear in the final moments of Claire’s video, after she’s hung up the phone. She’s left to silently scream out her embarrassment at the slip-up, and — by sharing it with the masses on TikTok — she invited us into the cringe she’s probably still reeling from.

Religious jokes are rampant in the comment section, where users joke that they “bet he’ll bring the wine,” and expressing that this is exactly “how all my prayers start.”

That’s not to mention all the people who, drowning in secondhand embarrassment, openly urged Claire to “press 1 for more options” and re-record the message. Its far too late for that, of course, and both Claire and the mysterious Jesús have permanent proof of her blunder.

Let’s not give the poor creator too much grief over it, however, since none of us are all that comfortable leaving voicemails either. The practice has seen a sharp decline in recent years, largely due to the rise of alternate, simpler means. Shooting off a text or an email is a faster and more efficient way to communicate, and since an increasing number of people are likewise less comfortable talking on the phone, voicemail has largely become a thing of the past.

Claire’s busy trudging her way through an outdated process, and she needs our support — not our judgement. She seems to be recovering well from the gaffe, even poking fun at herself with a follow-up video, but until her job catches up and moves to texting, she’s at perpetual risk of another slip-up.