[davai]

Phones are cool. I sometimes withhold my number and then call people I know and pretend to be the water company or something. You've got a drainage problem out in your yard, we need to come along and fix this! I've been pranked enough times by people, all in good fun though.

---------- Post added 02-13-2012 at 05:51 PM ----------

Sometimes I enjoy talking to cold callers and sales people on the phone just so I can vent to them about how their company sucks.

[deconspire]

I didn't even have a cell phone until 3 years ago, and that was only because my girlfriend at the time bitched so much about it that I finally got one. I text quite a bit, but I rarely talk on it, and if I do, the call duration is usually under 30sec.

[theiceman]

I really only use the phone to call my parents. I don't like having a short period of time between their comment and my comment because I can't think things through. I'll text though because I can think about my response for a few minutes.


Texting > Phone Calls.

[Warrior]

	Originally Posted by Vulture To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	my problem with this solution has historically been the social aspect. lots of people today just can't accept that you don't want/can't be reached at any given moment. many people will get ticked off at you if you don't answer your phone and acquiesce to their intrusion into your day as a rule.

Sure, but if every phone disappeared tomorrow, it would not solve that problem. Telephones, while probably contributing to this problem to some degree, give you more control over this problem than you might otherwise have.

[elTee13]

So, I was at a gathering the other day and two people I haven't seen in a while asked what I thought about phone conversations. I told them that I loathe the phone and will almost never initiate a phone conversation but if they called I'd chat with them for a while. So they said we can always chat on FaceBook, this was just after I told them that my FB account will be deleted at the end of the month. SP's .. gotta (insert appropriate word here) 'em!!

[hamlet9]

I also hate the phone. The sound of a phone ringing for me scares the holy fuck out of me. That's why I only have a cell phone and I always keep the ringer off.

[Xanthippe]

Eh, they're a necessary evil. I prefer the internet - you can be on or off, and nobody's going to leave you a voice mail (the most annoying aspect of a phone, in my view). That said, I deleted my Facebook account ages ago, and have been enjoying the Luddite land of email-only...

[Magda]

I also hate the telephone. I have a land line with an answering machine, and a cell for emergencies or times of extreme convenience, which is otherwise always off, and for which hardly anyone has the number.

The only people I generally talk to are my parents and occasionally my brother, but they generally call me rather than the other way 'round.

I am slightly phobic about having to make phone calls to strangers or people I don't know well, and will often try to plan ahead what I am going to say. I would much rather communicate either via email, or in person. I suspect it may have to do with the lack of needed visual cues to aid communication, combined with having to give spontaneous answers.

The fact that the person who used to have my phone number has had debt collectors looking for them for the entire 6 years that I've had the number doesn't help any. Every 6 months of so the debt gets dumped on someone new, and I get a new spate of phone calls looking for her.

[Snowdragon]

Hearing the phone ring is as pleasant as having ice cubes being dropped down my back. Thank God for the answering machine.

[vampyroteuthis]

I love telephones. Red, blue, doesn't matter.

[Bardas]

Phones are neat...conversations on them are to be avoided...but otherwise kinda nifty...

[mieu]

I hate phones because I viscerally reject the concept of forced interaction.

Okay, that's too strong, I'm not being forced to pick up the phone, but the caller is expecting it of me. I'll listen to your voicemail in a minute! I have the same mild discomfort when sitting down to say, play a game with someone, because I'm being asked to sit in one place when I might decide that I want to go do something else. At least engaging in a face-to-face interaction forces me to stay focused on the visual/verbal/physical exchange. When I'm on the phone my brain just disconnects and floats away.

Funnily enough I have much more discipline at my job when working on a team. Perhaps my callers should offer me more incentive >:]

[sevans]

I hate talking on phones without video, to hear a disembodied voice has always been unsettling to me. I don't hate phones however, unless of course they aren't smart phones, without a smart phone how would I ever get online, check my calendar, check the time, or remind myself to eat? Life without technology? That's preposterous.

[karenann33]

I'm so glad to read all this. I have learned to take the phone in moderation as a price to pay for having a few friends in my life. Overall though I don't like it. It startles me, I feel intruded upon, and I want to be left alone.

[johnw]

I use my phone more for reading emails and browsing the internet than talking on. I much prefer txt to phone calls, if I'm talking to someone I want it to be in person.

[Lilie]

I always jump out of my skin when the phone rings... even though I have no reception in my apartment so if it's ringing, I know it's just the alarm that I set myself.

Actually I have no reception anywhere. I noticed this like two weeks ago, and have made no effort to find out what the problem is or to try to fix it.

[Trantor]

I hate talking on phones. Only use it to talk to my parents and landlord. Other than that every time I see an unknown number calling it makes me feel nervous and I never answer.

[stoopidkitty]

I've always hated phones, especially if I'm forced to talk to someone when there are other people around. If I know someone very well, I guess I don't mind too much, but that's really uncommon for me. When my former employer insisted, despite my subtle objections, that I absolutely needed a phone placed on my desk...yeah, not cool at all. I refused to use it, and made sure that for some reason or another that phone wouldn't function properly, or I wasn't there to answer it, etc. :D

[nashburn8]

At work I have to answer the phone, but at home I let my voice mail answer. Then I will decide whether I will call back or not.

[Nostalgia]

I don't answer phone calls, unless it is work/school related. Text is the best way to get my attention, if you really need to talk to me, text me in advance to arrange a suitable time for verbal intercourse.
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[JadeScholar]

I also don't care for phones. I don't like the idea of forever being contactable. I don't like leaving messages, or cold calling people. I have to do enough of that sort of thing at work, and at least then I can have a script memorized. I don't like texting either. Takes too long. And I often forget to charge the bloody thing, which is just as well in my mind.

And people can be so rude sometimes. Phone etiquitte seems to often be lacking. I hate it when people stand in front of my desk while talking on their phone, particularly when I am trying to get my own work done. I will not help you until you can give me your full attention! Now go away or I will check you in and charge you double fees and you will never know because you are too busy being annoying to pay attention to what I am doing!!!
Gah!
Umm... yes.
I don't like cellphones.

[khurynn]

Phones to me are a necessary evil. I especially dislike cold-calling someone I don't know, regardless of the reason, or for carrying on long conversations with anyone over the phone. I sometimes find myself planning out ahead of time what I'm going to say although I've been trying to avoid doing this lately. All of my incoming calls are screened by my machine; there are exactly two numbers I will actually pick up for. My cell phone is for emergency use only. I think the thing I dislike the most is not being able to see the person I'm talking to, and having to be very spontaneous with the conversation. I think this is partially why I don't do very well in group socialization either: by the time I've formulated something interesting or meaningful to say, with others firing comments left and right, the immediate topic has usually changed.

[Monica]

Phones are not my favorite either, but I have come to the conclusion that the fact that it's ringing does not mean I have to answer. The phone is *my* slave, it's here to serve me, not the other way around.

[Davi8071]

Personally I don't mind using the phone as long as it is for brief, non personal matters. I find that I am extremely formal while on the telephone and personal conversations just feel awkward for me.

I believe I am this way because of how my parents raised me to interact on the telephone. politeness, respect and haste were what they taught me back then and now i find I cant use the phone in any other way.

I am fine with informality in texting however.

[DesertKnight]

I thought....I thought I was the only one...this whole time....there were others?

Kidding aside, hate the telephone and always have ever since I was very little. I actually dread having to make phone calls, receiving a phone call is slightly less disastrous but only slightly. Hate them all around, though they do have their uses and I thank whoever created it for texting because since the onset of the texting fad (probably not a fad at this point) I handle most of my telecommunications this way.

Phones can go die in a fire for all I care.