Phone calls and emails

[Irishmom2]

Cruciferi, you rebel, you!

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

Our phone was odd when I was a kid. There would be weeks when it would turn into a party line because of the bad wiring. I remember vividly when we got an answering machine.

Prior to that you would tell your friends and family “I’ll be home between X and Y time, call me then” or “dinner is at X and we don’t answer the phone” IE don’t bother trying. Leaving a message on an answering machine cost money because the connection was made so it was not ideal.

I’m all for not having 24/7 availablity. However, I als don’t support 0 availability becuase you know the technology will keep everyone on hold so to speak.

 

[Clementine14]

I think perhaps this is an age difference thing. Some people were born late enough to never have known what the world was like without a cell phone, and a way to be reached, in it.

I would imagine they grew up with a total connection, not knowing any other way, and not being able to imagine not wanting or needing to be connected 24/7.

But there are lots of people for whom this was the way it was for almost all of their lives. They don’t have that immediate need because they grew up with a phone, or without an answering machine even. It is just not that important to be available for every single call.

Barring emergencies, most of the time, stuff can wait.

Right. I kind of miss this. We had one phone line, no caller ID, and no answering machine. If someone wanted to reach you, they’d call back. If you were busy or not home, you’d never even know anyone called and no one would expect you to know.

A few months ago, I accidentally left my cell at home when I was taking my son to a doctor’s appointment. It was quite freeing. I won’t leave it at home on purpose because of my son’s medical issues, but if I didn’t need it to be able to reach emergency services I’d be leaving it at home a lot more.

If someone never answers the phone and never returns calls, people will just stop bothering. But the OP is getting yelled at for not answering the phone while trying to sleep. Whoever knows she needs to sleep during the day and is rude enough to call anyway is the one with the problem.

 

[Irishmom2]

Only my family and a couple of close friends have my cell number. Everyone else gets the landline number. Leave a message, and we will get back to you. We rarely answer it unless we recognize the number and are awaiting a call.

It is freeing to not carry a phone. Sometimes I leave mine in the car while I shop, and always when I am in church.

 

[Elizabeth3]

Only my family and a couple of close friends have my cell number. Everyone else gets the landline number. Leave a message, and we will get back to you. We rarely answer it unless we recognize the number and are awaiting a call.

It is freeing to not carry a phone. Sometimes I leave mine in the car while I shop, and always when I am in church.

I do this too. I have a small tracphone that I turn on when I’m not at home. My husband and my children’s schools are the only ones with the number. Everyone else can call the house.

My phone will “speak” and tell me who is calling. If I know them, I will answer if it’s a good time. If not, they can leave a message, which I will listen to and obviously if they start telling me about some emergency, I will drop everything and pick it up. As an introvert, it would drive me batty to be at everyone’s beck and call constantly.

 

[HopenHappiness]

I have told all who know me, that my cell phone is for my convenience and not theirs. And I will turn it on and off as I see fit. So if it is a real emergency you can call my house phone, the one where you have to actually speak to a person and not text a message. Just like they know if the text message they send requires an answer longer then three words they get a call instead. I am to old in my ways to change now. Besides these youngings need to learn to speak to people. As I tell my great nephews and nieces, I don’t want you losing your speech skills.