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I always wanted to own a phone... here in Glasgow in the 50s 60s only a few houses had phones.. but by the 70s almost all homes had one.... I at last got one and couldnt wait to call friends over the road that I could easily have walked over to talk to...... but Id always seen old movies where teenagers talked on the phone for ages to their friends and wished I had one.... big mistake... I hate mine now...it has become an invasion to me... I get calls when Im tired.. watching a film on TV.. sitting reading out the back on a nice day ,or even worse calls from a call centre , people who know my name but I dont know theres... how they annoy me big time...Chatting on a phone now I feel tiring and I cant concentrate , am I just getting old and grumpy. or do others feel the same way....I even dont like mobiles, it seems everyone now has to talk while walking along the road.. surely life on a phone cant be that exciting or important.... I was on a forty minute bus trip and one girl spoke on her mobile for the full journey to the one person... a person she was on her way to viist, going by things she was letting the full bus know..... Oh I am grumpy.
Thank goodness Im not alone on this.....to me its like uninvited guests...I dont mind family or something of importance to be talked over but not hour long chats about nothing..
All depends. Growing up, we moved frequently and never lived near family. The keeping in touch was often limited to the occasional, expensive, long distance call. Same with going away to college. My parents called on Saturday mornings at a specified time.
Now, my parents live in different states and I see them once or twice a year; my kids are grown and live away, and yet, I speak to each of my kids most days and my parents several times a week. It's nice to know what is going on in a more active way than when I was growning up.
While I agree that phones (like anything else) can be (and often are) abused/misused, they can also be a really positive thing.
Also - caller ID is a wonderful thing. I usually don't answer numbers I don't recognise. I just turn the ringer off. If it's important they'll leave a message. 99.9% of the time it isn't.
Last edited by maciesmom; 07-06-2014 at 08:37 AM..
dizzybint, Can you get caller ID? I don't answer the phone unless I recognize the number. Also, some phones have a switch to turn off the ringer. Then the calls go right to the voice mail or answering machine.
I'm with you. I really don't like phones that much. I have both a landline (cordless phone) and a very basic cell phone that you put minutes on. I rarely use my cell. It is mainly for emergencies or to check on my mother if I am out for several hours.
I don't like it when friends who live right in this city call and want to talk for a long time. I will usually chat about 15 minutes and then walk over to the door and press the door bell. Then I just say, "Sorry, have to scoot...I have company at the door."
I also do not care for drop in guests. I guess I like my privacy.
I'm with you! No cell phone here, just a land line. Every time it rings, I hate it. At least with a cell phone you can turn it off!
You just need to buy the right phone. There are plenty that have a "do not disturb" feature. I use vonage for my service and if I don't feel like dealing with the phone I just turn on the do not disturb feature on my phone OR I can log into vonage and enable the online do not disturb. All the calls will be answered by my vonage voice mail.
Virtually all phones come with caller ID. Get an answering machine to pick up calls and screen your calls using these two features. Thus, answer only when you want to talk.
Then learn where on your phone to turn the ringer off.
In Scotland there is a Telephone Preference Service. This is similar to the American Do Not Call list. Sign up for it and it will help to cut down on advertising calls. If your name is on it ,advertisers should not be
calling.
Most phone also allow you to block a certain amount of phone numbers. Call your service provider to find out how to do it.
There is no reason to feel a phone is an intrusion in your life. Just learn how to use it. As for overly chatty friends, yes,they can be a pain. But once you learn how to let the calls go to your answering machine it's less of a problem ,as is turning off the ringer when you want to sleep. Politely excusing yourself when you don't want to talk anymore is also perfectly OK.
It's not that deep. You can turn off both your landline phones and cell phones when you are occupied and don't want to be interrupted. Turn them back on when you're free. You control your phone.
I hate the phone too. It feels like a phone call says "whatever you're doing, it's not nearly as important as speaking to me right now". Sure, there are plenty of times when phone calls are important but far more when they are, as OP said, calling when the person is tired, watching a movie, etc.
The day I found out you could order pizza online was one of the 10 happiest days of my life.
Don't even get me STARTED on cell phones!
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