Why do people answer the phone if they are in the middle of something important?

[Gunny]

During the last few years of my service, I pretty much spent my workdays on a phone, either at the office or on a government issued cell phone while out and about. It was pretty much understood that you didn't let any call go to voice mail and lordy help you if you were talking to someone on the phone and let a higher ranking person left to leave a voice mail. It didn't take long before I absolutely hated a telephone.

Once I retired, I bought a cell phone (usually just used as an expensive device to tell time) just in case I needed to make a call and for emergencies. I don't usually answer a cell phone call unless it's one of my few contacts. Not long after I got this phone I ran into someone who had been trying to call me for some time and he was almost livid when he asked why in the h*ll I didn't have my voice mail set up, forcing him to make several attempts to contact me. I told him that I paid for the phone, it was for my convenience, not his, and the reason I didn't have my voice mail set up was because I didn't want voice mail. This fellow only lived two miles from me and he drives past my place at least twice a day, but if it wasn't important enough for him to stop by and talk in person, then why should I have to listen to his message to which I probably wouldn't have replied to anyway.

I do like text messages even if I don't read them as soon as they come in, but if you've got my number, chances are you're able to send text in this day and age. Texts don't take nearly as long to read and respond to or clear out than voice messages require.

 

[Diggin It]

This fellow only lived two miles from me and he drives past my place at least twice a day, but if it wasn't important enough for him to stop by and talk in person,

I have fences and six foot hedges and gates to ensure that people CAN'T just stop by.

 

[Thomas]

Just habit. :confused3:

 

[Jstpssng]

What prompted me to start this thread was a phone call to my brother last night. He sounded flustered so I asked if it was a bad time.
It turns out that he was talking to a coworker, and asked me to call back.
I wasn't to, but he returned my call and we talked. Then he mentioned that he was sitting in a store parking lot and needed to get his wife's cigarettes.
Maybe it's just me, but if I'm trying to get home I'm not going to be bothered to talk on the phone unnecessarily.

I do like texting for the same reason that others have mentioned. It's not as intrusive, and you can say what you need without all of the formalities of a phone call. I won't check them while I'm driving, so if my phone pings it adds a little mystery to my life as I drive down the road wondering who it's from.

 

[Looking4new]

With me at 72 years old, IF I am talking on the phone and want to cut it short, "I gotta P" gets the caller off quickly. My cell is my house phone and it goes where I do. Whether I answer it or not is a crap shoot.
Auto answer through the hands free in all three vehicles makes it real convenient.
Voice mail is okay only if the caller leaves a message that can be understood. People that talk at ninety miles an hour when leaving messages usually get deleted. The same goes for people that cannot speak clear English. If they mumble their message....delete. If their English is slaughtered...delete.
I really like the foreigners that call and say they are from CRA (our income tax people). I get to screw with them something awful.
I absolutely hate the messages my dispatcher leaves, 'call me when you get this'. I usually let him stew for 2 or 3 hours before I call him. Or I call him at the end of my day.
I NEVER take the company phone into the truck stop. I am 'off duty' and if I was to answer the work phone while I am off duty, it automatically puts me 'on duty and not driving' again. My own phone lives in the truck, too.
My own phone never goes into stores, its' home is in the vehicle when it is not at the house.

 

[MossRoad]

Why do people answer the phone if they are in the middle of something important?

Important to who? You or them? :laughing:

 

[oosik]

Psychologists would say its a matter of acknowledgement. People call - you answer - they are acknowledging your existence.

WHATEVER My one and only phone - a cell phone - is OFF - ALL THE TIME. Except when I turn it on so I may make a phone call. Otherwise, I try to remember to turn it on every evening to see if somebody left a message worthy of a return call.

This generation forgets - - the phone is for the use of he who pays the bill - not an instrument for use by the general public. Like most young ones I see - I do not have an umbilical cord running from my cell phone to my head. And for that matter - when I leave the house - the cell phone remains at home.

Am I just an old fart - firmly set in the old ways - YES, most likely, and I'm not about to change either.

 

[Diggin It]

This generation forgets - - the phone is for the use of he who pays the bill -

That's why I use TracFone. Cost me about $10/mo or so for more time, data and messages than I can use.

 

[CobyRupert]

My biggest pet peeve is when:
I'm standing in a line at a store, or some such, politely waiting my turn like everybody else, and then the person behind the counter ignores all the real life people standing in front of them (with real sales $) to answer the phone for a possible sale! How is it the caller gets to skip to the head of the line just because they called?! What an insult.

It's at those time I wished I carried a cell phone (I don't! I'm possibly the last man in the world who doesn't). If I had one I'd call the store while standing three people back in line and talk loudly to the counterperson and ask my question! Maybe then they realize how rude it is to take the call. Of course everybody in line would be p*ssed at me!! Instead I just have to loudly comment "Guess I should had called instead of waiting here!"

(They should put caller on hold until it's their turn.)

 

[oosik]

Ha, ha, ha - - my normal monthly use is less than 5 minutes.